FROM THE LIBRARY OF REV. LOUIS FITZGERALD BENSON, D. D. BEQUEATHED BY HIM TO THE LIBRARY OF PRINCETON THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY LHyi *s BEMROSEj Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2013 http://archive.org/details/selectmetricalhyOOephr SELECT METRICAL JS AND HOMI [ES Ephro EPHEAEM SYRUS. tonstoi fat tbi- nrigtnnl iqriar, WITH AN INTRODUCTION AND HISTORICAL AND PHILOLOGICAL NOTES, BY THE REV. HENRY BURGESS, PH.D., OF GOTTINGEN, A PRESBYTER OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND, TRANSLATOR OF THE FESTAL LETTERS OF ATHANASIUS FROM AN ANCIENT SYRIAC VERSION. . ■"> i INTRODUCTION. XXIX " Who first by the name of Daison Surnamed Bardesanes ? He has more affinity with a son of Daison (a man) Than with the river Daison ; For that stream never brought forth Thistles and tares I" Hahn, in his learned monograph, called " Bardesanes Gnosticus," draws an interesting portrait of him from the scattered materials at his command, and makes him less heretical than others, who, like him, were the promulgators of Gnostic sentiments. But Neander attributes the repu- tation of Bardesanes for a kind of orthodoxy, to the cunning manner in which he concealed and modified his opinions in public. He says,^ " Bardesanes, like other Gnostics, was in the habit of accommodating himself, when he spoke publicly in the Church, to the prevailing opinions ; he let himself down in this way to the level of physical natures." Yet Neander concedes that he was moderate in his errors, compared with some others. "He did, in many points, really agree, more than other Gnostics, with the orthodox doctrine. He could even write, from honest con- viction, against many other Gnostic sects then spreading themselves in Syria." It is agreed on every hand, that Bardesanes acquired great influence in the second century, in Syria, by the use of metrical compositions, in which he adapted his heresies to the public taste, and gained for them an extensive cir- culation. This we learn especially from Ephraem, who, d General History of the Christian Religion and Church, vol. ii., p. 145. Ed. Clark. XXX INTRODUCTION. from living and labouring in the scenes formerly occupied by his deceased opponent, and among his followers, is con- tinually alluding to him in his writings. In his fifty-third Homily against heretics, (torn, v., p. 553,) he gives the following explicit account of his musical genius, written in pentasyllable metre : — " For these things Bardesanes Uttered in his writings. — He composed odes, And mingled them with music ; He harmonized Psalms, And introduced measures.— By measures and balances, He divided words. He thus concealed for the simple The bitter with the sweet. For the sickly do not prefer Food which is wholesome. He sought to imitate David, To adorn himself with his beauty So that he might be praised by the likeness. He therefore set in order, Fsalms one hundred and fifty. But he deserted the truth of David, And only imitated his numbers." Certainly Ephraem appears, in this passage, to give to Bardesanes the credit of inventing the Syriac hymnology. He expressly says that he introduced ( J^l]) measures, although it may admit of a doubt whether this means that he invented them in the first instance, or brought into fashion some novel ones of his own, or even that he used existing machinery for the circulation of his opinions. However this may be, his testimony is clear as to the INTRODUCTION. XXXI popularity which the productions of Bardesanes secured, for in the first homily of the same collection (torn, v., p. 439), he pays a compliment to his skill and influence, while he blames his use of them : — " In. the resorts of Bardesanes There are songs and melodies. For seeing that young persons Loved sweet music, By the harmony of his songs He corrupted their minds." One more passage may be quoted, bearing the same testi- mony to the captivating power of this modulator of the rugged language of the Syrians. In the fifty-fifth homily against heresies (torn, v., p. 557), Ephraem gives some extracts from a work of Bardesanes in hexasyllabic metre, and, after a quotation of a very objectionable character, says :— " Thus in his Odes he testifieth— (This wizard by his blandishments, And this lax one by his melodies), — That he dishonours the fair name Of the Holy Spirit." There can, therefore, be no question that Bardesanes made great use of measured verse to instil his doctrines into the minds of the susceptible people of Edessa. It is equally clear that he gave his name, in after ages, to a particular metre, the pentasyllable. This is proved by an incidental note affixed to the sixty-fifth homily of Ephraem against the Scrutators, (torn, vi., p. 128.) At the close of that piece, it is said, Here end the seventeen XXX11 INTRODUCTION. hymns according to the tunes of the songs of Bardesanes, # a-»)^? v-i010j_i_»> JJ.Q - ^^ Metres were called after his name, which is perhaps as great a compliment as a musician can have paid him. As Hahn says, " Gnosis itself is poetry, it is not therefore wonderful that among its admirers true poets should have been found. Ter- tullian mentions the Psalms of Valentinus ; and Marcus, his disciple, a contemporary of Bardesanes, inculcated his Gnosticism in a song, in which he introduced the iEons conversing. " e The undoubted skill of Bardesanes makes it more to be regretted that we have only a few fragments of his works, and those quoted by his opponents, to convey an unfavourable impression. We may perhaps be allowed to make a remark suggested by his history, and that of other distinguished heretics ; — how often is it the case that in modes of affecting the public mind and gaining popu- larity for their opinions, the children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light ! The charms of music have always been recognized in pros- perous conditions of the Church, both in the old and new dispensations, and while much has been done in this way in England, both in the sentiments and the execution of psalmody, it must be confessed that more remains to be accomplished.-^ The name of Harmonius, the son of Bardesanes, next e Bardesanes, p. 28. / In harmony, the very image and character even of virtue and vice is per- (•.■ivcii, the mind delighted with their resemblances, and brought, by having them often Iterated, Into a love of the things themselves, For irhleh cause there INTRODUCTION. XXX111 occurs, as influencing and improving Syrian metrical compositions. He was educated in the language and wisdom of Greece, and there can be no question that he would make his knowledge of the exquisite metrical com- positions of that literature bear on the improvement of his own. This is said on the presumption, that the accounts of the ecclesiastical historians, Sozomen and Theodoret are credible. The former states, in his life of Ephraem (lib. iii., cap. 16), that, " Harmonius, the son of Bardesanes, having been well instructed in Grecian literature, was the first who subjected his native language to metres and musical laws, (jrpuo-rov [terpens kcu vo/lioi? ^ovaiKo7 l s -rriv ira-rpiov (pivvrjv v7ra~/a~/€?v,) and adapted it to choirs of singers, as the Syrians now commonly chant ; not indeed using the writings of Harmonius, but his numbers (to?s fieXeai). For not being altogether free from his father's heres}^, and the things which the Grecian philosophers boasted of concerning the soul, the body, and regeneration, (7rct\r{~jeveaia<}) having set these to music he mixed them with his own writings." The notice of Theodoret is yet more brief. He says, (lib. iv., cap. 29,) "And since Harmonius, the son of Bardesanes, had formerly composed certain songs, and, mingling his impiety with the sweetness of music, enticed his hearers and allured them to destruc- tion, having taken from him metrical harmony, (rrjv ap/uo- viav rov /meXovs) Ephraem mixed godliness with it," &c. is nothing more contagious and pestilent than some kinds of haiTuony ; than some, nothing more strong and potent unto good."— Hooker, Ecclesiastical Polity, book v., chap. 38. C XXXIV INTRODUCTION. These accounts seem natural and trustworthy until we remember that Ephraem, who could not be mistaken in the matter, attributes to the father, Bardesanes, the inven- tions or adaptations, which the Greek historians ascribe to the son Harmonius. It is also very remarkable that Har- monius is not mentioned, as far as we can discover, by Ephraem or any other Syriac writer, an anonymous author of a Compendium of Ecclesiastical History excepted; who only gives a translation of the passage just quoted from Theodoret, as may be seen in Asseman, (Bibliotheca Orientalis, torn, i., p. 48.) Certainly if this man exerted such an influence on Syriac metrical literature as to eclipse the honours of his father, in the sources whence Sozomen and Theodoret drew their information, it is strange that no more should be said about him by his own countrymen. We do not draw any conclusion however from this omis- sion, but merely state it, in the hope it may lead to some fresh discovery. Hahn admits, without any expressed hesitation, the tes- timony of the Greek historians, their mistake as to the invention of the metres excepted, and ingeniously traces to Harmonius certain features of the Syriac poetry. He says, "It is not improbable that Harmonius enriched the Syrian metrical art and hymnology with some new Grecian measures and melodies, ( Versmaaszen und Weisen,) and perhaps he first arranged the heptasyllabic metre, so like the anacreontic, and the tetrasyllabic or dodecasyllabic, so closely related to the trochaic Greek verse. "9 An in- g Vcbcr dm (hsanij in dcr Syrischi'ii Kirchc, p. 61. INTRODUCTION. cidental allusion to Harmonius by Asseman, [Bibliotheca OrientaUs, torn, i., p. 61,) intimates that in the later transcriptions of Syriac literature his name and influence were acknowledged, since both he and his father Barde- sanes are mentioned in manuscripts as the inventors of metres. Asseman says that, "long before these authors," that is, Ephraem and other poets, "the Syrians used songs of this kind, as, for instance, Bardesanes and Harmonius. The tunes or rubrical marks affixed to the hymns (in manuscripts) indicate this, to which the compositions of Ephraem and others are referred, as to something prior and well known." It is true this passage leaves it doubt- ful whether Harmonius is spoken of merely as an illustra- tion of the statement that there were older hymn writers than Ephraem, or whether his name actually occurs in the rubrical notes as we have seen his father's does. It is much to be regretted that these valuable manuscript references are not printed in the Roman edition of the works of Ephraem, with the single exception given in relation to Bardesanes, which is mentioned above. Only one more name has historical or traditionary im- portance in Syriac metrical literature, until we come to Ephraem ; that is Balaeus, or more properly Balai, . i N*"^ ; who appears to have been a disciple of Ephraem. He is spoken of by Abulpharag in the following way : " After the Nicene Council had been held, our holy Ephraem began to write sacred hymns and odes ]t 1 > O |j»5j1do jA • », O, against the heresies of his day. And c2 XXXVI INTRODUCTION. other doctors also, as Isaac, and a certain Balai, com- posed many songs, after the manner of the writings we have received from David." Asseman, commenting on this (Bibliotheca Orientalis, torn, i., p. 167) says, "It hence appears that Balaeus was a contemporary with Isaac, the disciple of Ephraem." He then gives a catalogue of his extant writings, all of them metrical, and, except one, pentasyllable. It may well excite surprise, since this is all that is known of Balaeus, that he should, traditionally, have been considered the inventor of the pentasyllabic metre, espe- cially as that was used so extensively by Ephraem, his senior in years and station. Most probably the authors of the various metres were unknown, and then, through the tendency of the human mind to be unsatisfied without giving a local habitation and a name to that which interests it, they were attributed to those who had most used them, or, which is more likely, to those whose productions in them happened to be popular. From the operation of the same principle, the share belonging to Bardesanes and Harmonius in the construction or improvement of the metres, would be overlooked and ignored, in proportion as their opinions became obnoxious to the orthodox. A just dislike of heresy, and still more often, an indefensible odium theologicum, have, in all ages, done much to cor- rupt the truth of history, nor can it be surprising that these causes should have operated in the case now under consideration. This is recognised by Hahn, who says, (Bardesanes, p. 47,) "Balaeus gave his name to the INTRODUCTION. NXXV11 pentasyllabic metre, because the orthodox Syrians enter- tained a horror of Bardesanes." We come now to more certain ground, as laid down for us in the extant works of Ephraem ; and, whatever misti- ness may have enveloped our former researches, here we have the full beams of historical truth. We have no longer to complain of the deficiency of materials, but, on the con- trary, their abundance renders it difficult to examine and arrange them, and, by the collation, to deduce whatever may illustrate metrical literature. Ephraem flourished between the times of Constantine and Valens inclusive, and consequently was exerting his influence in the middle of the fourth century. In the life of this celebrated man, by an anonymous Syrian author, a natural and graphic description is given, of the way in which he was first led to cultivate metrical composition, [Opera Ephraemi, torn, vi., p. 1.) He is first introduced, saying, in a hepta- syllabic piece of autobiography : — " I found the book of Bardesanes, And was distressed by it continually ; For it defiled my ears and my whole nature, With its offensive blasphemies. For I heard in his homilies profane things, And things execrable in his songs. For if the body rises not It will be equal with things accursed ! If He created the body for corruption, And it shall not rise for ever, Behold he blasphemes the just One, And contemns Divine Providence ; Ascribing hatred to the Loving One, And repressing the hope of immortality XXXV111 INTRODUCTION. I have therefore read again, my brethren, The writings of the Holy Ghost ; And my ears were quickly closed Against the impurity of that sinner !" The biographer goes on to say, " This champion of Christ put on his arms, and proclaimed war against the forces of the enemies, especially against the wickedness of Bardesanes and his followers. And the blessed Ephraem seeing that all men were led by music, rose up and op- posed the profane games and noisy dances, (f^OlO | i S • profanis et inhonestis lusibus choreisque, Benedict,) of the young people, and established the daughters of the convent, (]V) i O ZlLO, see Hymn XXIV., note ??z,) and taught them odes and scales (|A\nrr)) 7t and responses (\t i IPS) ; ? and conveyed in the odes intelligent sentiments in a sen- tentious form, and things of spiritual wisdom concerning the nativity, and baptism, and fasting, and concerning the whole Christian dispensation, and the sufferings, and re- surrection, and ascension of Christ ; he wrote also con- cerning the martyrs, and penitence, and departed saints. And everyday these daughters of the convent k were assem- bled in the Churches ; on the solemn days of our Lord, and on Sundays, and on the commemorations of the ft " Carminis genus. Nemjie a scald et scanscione prosodkfi , comma Syria di- suntur, nt Hibrceia nferprr T\i ; canticnm graduum. Noa pedes m eartamt quoa Oriena graduB."— Michaelis in Castell, s.v. j As the root of this word contains the Idea of conversing, .. an. I as | » 10 V is rcsponaum, the above translation may t>< defended. diet adds here, as though the explanation were part of the text, '• Qya .1 virginitatem firmo foedere D<'<> obstrinxerant." INTRODUCTION. XXXIX martyrs. And he, like a father stood in the midst of them, a spiritual harper, and arranged for them different kinds of songs, and taught them the variation^ of chants (|^\ mQ-») ; until the whole city was gathered to him, and the party of the adversary™ was put to shame and defeated." Sozomen gives a somewhat similar account, excepting that instead of the heresy of Bardesanes, he lays more stress on the influence of Harmonius, as stimulating Ephraem in his public labours. He says, " Now Eph- raem, when he saw that the Syrians were charmed with the fine words and the rhythmical melody of Harmonius, and that by means of these they were induced to enter- tain his opinions, although he was destitute of Graecian culture, he applied himself to master the metres of Har- monius ; and to the tunes used by him in his writings, he adapted other words, consonant with the doctrines of the Church ; such are his compositions in divine hymns, and in praise of holy men. From that time the Syrians sung the words of Ephraem according to the metrical rules of Harmonius. " n These historical accounts harmonize with the facts of the case, as exhibited in Ephraem's own statements, and l This probably alludes to the antiphony or anthem. Ilahn renders, "und lehrte ifmen den Wechsel der GesangeP to The Syriac is f_lSQ£D> [Z^ia the left side or part. Michaelis quotes this passage, hut says he forgot where it was to be found. He presumes it refers to flight, " de fugd; Mane a laevo latere dicitur, quod fuginitfs obvertunt."—V. Castell, s. v. n Hist. />0 | A_i_JQ_l ;" which was most likely a treatise on hymnology. As this writer lived in the ninth century, the work, if discovered, would probably throw light on some matters not now very explicable. The other work is spoken of by Benedict in the preface to the fifth volume of the works of Ephraem, as being an accessible authority, which he had himself consulted, and no doubt it exists at Rome." Benedict says of the writer and his design : — " Stephen, a patriarch of the Maronite Syrians, in his work on the tunes of the Syrians, endeavours to reduce them to six classes. He afterwards arranges the whole sacred poetry of the Syrians under particular heads, as it were kinds of songs, and then numbers them as they were presented to him in ancient manuscripts." What we have been able to ascertain on the subject may be conveniently classed in the following manner. I. On the Metres. — These are regulated by the num- ber of syllables, not of feet, as in Greek and Latin verse. Thus while a Latin hexameter may consist of a varying number of syllables, according as dactyls or spondees predominate in its composition, the same metre in Syriac must be rigidly confined to twelve. Although neither accent nor quantity are at present recognized, we feel persuaded this must arise from ignorance of the subject, n " Unci vrie gerne wSre ein Preund der Byrischen Literatur und Sprache eimnal in Rom !" Ilahn. xliv INTRODUCTION. and not from the neglect of them by the Syrians them- selves. It is scarcely conceivable that among any people such important aids to melody should be unknown, or that being known they should not be used. Traces of an arrangement of the syllables on some system are discern- able in Ephraem, as in the frequent use of metathesis, by which words are transposed in a manner which in some cases obscures the sense and violates logical order. An instance of this is given in the note n to Homily VII., and an attentive reader will have no difficulty in finding others. But this subject can now only be glanced at, as one on which more light is desirable, and we pass on to enumerate the principal metres, which will be noticed ac- cording to their relative length. 1. The Tetrasyllable Metre is much used by Ephraem, and from its brevity is adapted for a quick and spirited style of composition. It is employed on all subjects, in funeral dirges and more didactic homilies, as the examples of it in this volume will shew. One long piece by Ephraem, called " The Pearl ; or concerning Faith," and containing seven homilies, is written in this metre. We give two verses of the " Hymn for the Evening,'' the twenty-fifth of this collection, as a specimen of it. \j*±D) ^Q(Tl\nn Hkiillmn ramslu- J lA>jQ_r2L»Z ^A L6k thgshbiiktho. •• in ail evenings Let there be praise to Thee." We may observe here that the vowels are not generally INTRODUCTION. xlv fully written in the manuscripts, and therefore the want- ing ones were inserted by the editors of the works of Ephraem. In his address to the reader in the fifth volume, Benedict says, that his task was a difficult one because of the defects of the consonants of his copies, and " because no vowels at all were to be seen, which being suppressed, about one half of the text is concealed." As the editors had to supply these signs, by which the verses are measured, it cannot be expected that they should, in every case, be exact, and this must be taken into consi- deration when anomalies are met with. We have observed that in some places, especially in the Sermones Exegetici, in volume the fifth, well-known vowels are omitted, such as always occur for instance in _So, and the olaph in em- phatic forms as in the termination \L. Unless this is remembered, the student of the metres will often be misled. 2. The Pentasyllable Metre is also found in all styles of composition, the grave as well as the lively. The seventeen hymns which begin with the forty-ninth against the Scrutators, are all of this metre. It allows of greater freedom than the tetrasyllable, without being so heavy as the longer verses. Hence, in the translations of this volume, the hymns and homilies of this metre will be found to be more pleasing in their style than those of any other. The tetrasyllable verses of Hymns XXVIII. and XXIX., for instance, are rendered meagre by their ne- cessary brevity ; while those of Homily I., the " Descrip- xlvi INTRODUCTION. tion of Paradise," are more flowing. Of this last men- tioned piece the following verses are the two first : — |HLi5^3 )\\ Oard phardays6 : )Vnfftf)Ai ^on ]i » ^ Mhiyn6y'd biis6m6. " The air of Paradise Is a fountain of sweetness." 3. The Hexasyllabic, or six-syllabled Metre, is not of common occurrence in Ephraem, and Halin states that he had never met with it in his works. Asseman, as we have seen above, says that he wrote in it, and Hymn XX., now translated, is a clear instance of it. If Hahn looked at this, he probably was deceived by the second verse, which has seven syllables ; but there is evidently a syndesis, which, if granted, will make all the verses uniform. The first two verses are : — PO | • » » ^n v > ; o - » * » iq ».> Chunayn br&chmayk Ab6 Yniehme 'b dinok n'hfin lilay. .7 X ■* PI . 7> .. 7 " Pity me, O Father ! in Thy tender mercy, And at Thy trihuual let Thy love he with me." It will be seen that the synseresis is in the word ^OOOTJ, which should be pronounced nehviin, but is contracted to n'hun. 4. We now come to the Heptasyllabic Metre, which has traditionally borne the name of Ephraem. It is more used in stately and mournful subjects, although by no means confined to them. Hymns X., XL, and XXII., INTRODUCTION. xlvii will illustrate this remark. If, as conjectured by Hahn, Harmonius borrowed this metre from Anacreon, it is rather remarkable that in Syriac it should be used so much in sombre compositions. We give as an illustration of it two verses of the tenth Hymn : — }* * .' /. * 7 « ". M6r 16'th kimnay ham i «py^p o . i -y Daudith bok Mor audo :^-^ | ? o| fio ^ A_ ? o|> biy . " O Lord ! appoint me not a place with the wicked ; Do Thou, Lord, confess me who have confessed Thee.'' As Anacreon has been mentioned, it may be convenient for the scholar to print here two verses from that poet, that an easy mode of comparison may be furnished. It will be at once seen how similar is the rhythm in both cases. *H 7?y fxe\aiva 7rt'vei, Ylivei ce cevcpe av-rjv. 5. The Octosyllabic Metre. — Benedict, in the address to the reader, prefixed to the fifth volume of the works of Ephraem, says that " Syriac verse does not exceed seven syllables, nor fall short of four." Hahn makes no men- tion of this metre. In reference to Benedict, it is very remarkable that he should make so positive an assertion, as the whole printed works of Ephraem must have passed through his hands, and under his eye. But in the case of Hahn there is no cause for wonder, as he merely did as we have done ; he looked over the printed hymns with- out professing to give each a close scrutiny. We have xlviii INTRODUCTION. seen that lie was ignorant of the existence of a hexasyl- labic verse in Ephraem, and yet an instance of a hymn in that metre has just been given. In the face of this both positive and negative evidence against octosyllabics, we hesitated long before we could feel certainty on the subject, but at least two compositions in that metre exist, concern- ing which there can be no doubt. These are printed in this volume as Hymns II. and XIII. ; and are found together as the forty-second and forty-third canons of the Necrosima (torn, vi., p. 298, 299). We will give an illus- tration from the latter of these, the two first verses : — »* -X...7 pt x -* <*•- y Hm&yre nehvun 16k ya- •x ,7. -n i o m v y «-* t y Valel bashmay6 nestham- : ^nnVn Ami |iVitn ,NsNo k6n " Let the little children be pledges with Thee, And above, in heaven, let them be Thy guests." It is true that a synseresis is admissible in the first of these verses, like that pointed out above in the hexasyl- labic metre ; and one might even be allowed in bashmayo, in the second, so as to read, Val61 b&shm&y 1 nesthamkun ; but, unless this procrustean process were carried on throughout the whole hymn, it could not be made hepta- syllabic. There can be no suspicion of its being tetra- syllable, because, as in the second verse above, an equal division is impossible in many cases. This metre is adapted to very solemn compositions, and is found so used in the two cases now alluded to. It is the same as our INTRODUCTION. xlix long metre, and if our readers will scan it along with some English hymn, they will have a better idea of its effect. 6. Dodecasyllabics are spoken of as being a favourite metre of Jacob of Sarug, and very many of his homilies are written in it. We have not been able to examine them, but it is presumed that the metre is the tetrasyl- labic, thrice repeated. This is the case with the few verses which are found in the catalogue of his works by Asseman (Bibliotlieca Orientalis, torn, i., p. 305). One homily is on the chariot seen by Ezekiel, and begins thus : — " High One ! sitting in an inscrutable chariot, Grant me Thy word that I may publish abroad Thy immensity !' ? These are all the metres which we have been able to classify, although, in some of the hymns of irregular structure, verses occur which can be ranged under none of them. But enough has been adduced to shew the great variety of which the language is capable, and, we hope, to lead to a more minute examination of the docu- ments, which alone can reveal the mystery of the whole system of Syriac verse. In connection with the metres, it will be proper to ex- hibit here what prosodical rules can be ascertained to exist, in relation to the structure of individual verses. A closer study of all cases which seem to be anomalous in the syl- labic numeration, will, there can be little doubt, develope something more than we are able at present to bring for- ward. There are only two figures now to be noticed, 1 INTRODUCTION. synceresis and diceresis ; these are referred to occasionally in the notes to the hymns and homilies, but deserve a dis- tinct consideration. It may serve to illustrate the very imperfect manner in which Syriac literature has been studied, to point to the fact, that in no Grammars is the metrical portion of it considered as important, and in most it is quite ignored ; and, consequently, no rules of prosody are to be found by the enquirer. Mr. Phillips, in his perspicuous and useful Syriac Grammar, in English, just glances at the hymns of Ephraem, and gives one of them in the praxis at the end of the work ; but the magnitude and value of this portion of the existing monuments of the language are not recognized. He also alludes to Marhe- tono and Mehagyono as being useful in syllabic verse, but there the matter drops. Hahn, in the Bardesanes, and still more fully in a preface to his Chrestomathy, enters into this part of Syriac prosody, and we shall give a careful digest of his labours, in preference to advancing any new observations of our own. We here gratefully acknowledge our obli- gations to him, and although our conclusions have been drawn from independent investigation, it will be more graceful to give him the honour of being the first who ai-rived at and published them. His work is probably dif- ficult to procure, and service will therefore be done to the student by an abstract of his observations, while the sub- ject will not be without interest to the general reader. A. Synthesis is of very frequent occurrence in Ephraem's metrical writings ; it is the contracting of two INTRODUCTION. syllables into one, so that a dissyllable becomes a mono- syllable. It occurs in the following cases : — 1. It takes away initial vowels : — a. Of the letter olaph, whether they are servile, as ^QJ*) ^ i v, thlen enun, pro- nounced thle-nun ; or radical, as in the particle *£)(, which in this formula, w£)| <-^)0"l, hokan oph, is abbreviated to hokan 'ph. b. Of other letters, both servile and radical 7*0 vowels are removed ; as _D0^2), phorukan, contracted to phrukan ; \L\ i V;V>, marhitho, to mrliitho ; (-153 ^Oj, rabod dadlo, to rabod dlo. 2. It takes away vowels in the middle of words : — a. In verbs of the Conjugation Ethpaal, as }5ZL«J, nesh- iharar is shortened to neshthrar ; v.i N^AJ, ?ietltphalag 1 to nethphlag. b. In nouns, and especially the vowel ze- kopho, as |l V)V)fr>, sammone is pronounced sammne ; ^■ZotlXU, lalohuthok abbreviated to lalhuthok. 3. It removes final vowels : — a. In verbs of the Con- jugation Pad ; as «_2L_^\5 daleph, becomes dcdph. This occurs most frequently in the active Pea? participle, as .7* 7 P AJ I ;^l£D so5ar a$, becomes sobr'ath ; also in the pas- sive participle in the emphatic form, as for r w ^ 1 1 glitho, we read glith. — b. In nouns in the status emphaticus, as 10 I • i *~) bisho, the pronunciation is bish. B. Diaeresis occurs less frequently ; by it syllables having only one vowel, are furnished with two, so that monosyllables become dissyllables, dissyllables trisyllables, &c. It most frequently happens when there is a sheva or scarcely perceptible vowel, which by the diaeresis assumes Hi INTRODUCTION. a full syllabic character. Thus ^n^n » \v hlayhun be- comes halayhun ; |V>->AlO methchze, methcheze, $c. This summary, though brief, is the result of much in- vestigation, and may at least serve as a guide to the student in his researches. In this department of literature all labourers are explorers, and it may lighten the toil of those who come after us, to be made acquainted with the fruits of our experience. Notice must also be taken of the existence of hypermetric verses ; that is, such as are of greater length than the others of the same strophe. These are found generally at the end of the strophe, but not always. For instance, the seventh verse of each strophe of Homily I. in this volume is h} T permetric. Besides the Syriac works relating to prosody already referred to, mention is made of a Monophysite, Thomas the Deacon, who wrote a tract on the Points, and the method of Punctuation. See Asseman's Bibliotheca, vol. ii., at the close of the unpaged dissertation concerning the Monophysites. This tract must have been written before the seventh century. Other works more or less related to the subject are occasionally alluded to. II. On the Strophes. — Some of the metrical writings of Ephracm have no divisions except those of verses, but run on continuously till the close, like the books of Virgil or Homer. Put these are less common than those which are arranged in uniform portions, of greater or less length. This might be the result of the musical accompaniments of the compositions, which would demand a regular divi- sion ; and most probably the first Syrian li\ nmologist, INTRODUCTION. Kii whoever he was, availed himself of this natural help to his melodies. Certainly, ancient examples were not want- ing, in the Greek choruses, and the Greek and Latin odes ; and even the Psalms of the Old Testament, such as the hundred and nineteenth, were suggestive of such an arrangement. In the works of Ephraem these artificial divisions would be detected, although the manuscripts and printed books contained no marks of subdivision. The sense is often as completely circumscribed and hemmed in by the individual strophes, as the verses are by the sylla- bles of which they consist. Take the first homily, for instance, in this collection, the " Description of Paradise," and a slight consideration of its structure must have led to its present translated form, although diacritical marks had been wanting. There is a rise and fall in the style which, although not perceptible on a slight acquaintance, becomes evident to the diligent student of Ephraem, so that the longest pieces soon fall into the parts which art originally gave them. But, independently of this natural division conferred on his poems by the writer, there is another which is still more evident ; that adopted for the purpose of choral performances, or antiphonal singing. A doxology seems to have been the more common form of the choral accompaniment, such as that in the thirty-fifth Hymn in this volume ; and there can be no doubt that this was the case more often than is expressed in the written or printed text. When the hymns or homilies were in common use, it was so well known where the dox- ology should come, that it was not thought necessary to liv INTRODUCTION. write it, or even to indicate its places. An illustration of this may be seen in the twenty-third Hymn, where the first strophe has the chorus in full, but the others only in an abbreviated form. The length of the strophes varies exceedingly, from four verses to twelve, sixteen, and even twenty. Many of them are uniform in their structure, every verse con- taining the same number of syllables ; but others are studiously varied, exhibiting great art and labour in their construction. Homily III., beginning, " Speak, Harp !" is an illustration of this ; but some exist which are still more intricate, and have hitherto defied our efforts to arrange them, in the portion of time we have been able to devote to them. Indeed, Ephraem seems to have had a nice ear for variety, and, if what has been said above respecting the dislike of his countrymen to the monotony of the Psalms is correct, he must have gratified the most fastidious seeker of novelties. Even in the more simple strophes there is often a cadence or a variation which gives vivacity and character to the whole production. This may be noticed in the first and second Homilies in this volume ; and in the Hymns which contain five verses in a strophe, the fifth being separable from what precedes, and contain- ing a prayer, an invocation, or some lively and unex- pected sentiment. These efyvpvia, or supernumerary l, have a very pleasing effect when the hymns are read, apart from any musical object contemplated by them. III. On tiii: Antipiiony ok Responsive Chant. — Historical evidence is quite conclusive as to the popularity INTRODUCTION. lv of the practice of alternate singing in the early Syrian Church, and as to the important use made of it both by Bardesanes and Ephraem, as an instrument for moulding and fashioning the public mind. And its influence is founded in nature, exciting as it does an interest in a public service, and keeping alive an enthusiasm in more private musical performances. The chanting of the Psalms in the cathedral service would want its great charm if it were not responsive, for although the tune may be the same for both sides of the choir, the very alternation gives freshness and life to the service. This is seen even in parish churches, where there is no musical accompani- ment to the Psalms ; the responses of the people prevent the perception of any monotony in the reader, and the general effect is pleasing, when the worshippers take their part, and do not allow it to be performed vicariously in the proverbial drawling of the clerk. It is very likely that in the time of Ephraem the art had attained to great perfection, among a people naturally voluptuous and easily led by the senses ; and this will account for the great mass of metrical productions even now existing, and for the skill displayed in so constructing them, as to admit of, and give effect to, responsive singing. There are at least two distinct forms of this practice manifest in the works of Ephraem. The first has the character of the dialogue, or rather of the amcebseic poems of Theocritus or Virgil ; when two persons, or more, carry on a conversation on a topic forming the subject of the composition. A perfect specimen of this is found in 1V1 INTRODUCTION. Hymn XXI. of this volume, where the subject is intro- duced by the personation of the deceased, at whose funeral we may presume the recitation took place. In two strophes he asks for the prayers of the survivors, who answer in the third strophe, suggesting a ground for hope and con- solation. The dialogue is continued in alternate strophes until the sixth, when the departed one again takes two strophes, and the survivors conclude with one. There are some pieces of this kind in the Necrosima much longer than this, one indeed extending to two hundred and fifty verses : others are less perfect in their form, only a part being responsive, as in Hymns VI. and VII. of this col- lection. But the second form of the responsive chant is more common ; it consists of a chorus at the end of each strophe, formed either by a repetition of a portion of the poem, by a prayer, or by a doxology. In the translated Hymns everything which appeared to illustrate the practice is commented on in the notes, and nothing need now be added. There can be no doubt that a careful collation of all accessible metrical compositions of the Syrians, with the aid of the rubrical annotations in manuscripts, will clear up what is dark on this whole subject, and put the hymnology, in its literature and practice, on a historical basis. The writer has derived sufficient light from only a partial examination of Ephracm to make him feel hopeful of this result, should he be able to continue his researches. IV. ON THE TUNLS TO WllK II Till: MeTKH .\l. < n.Mi'n- INTRODUCTION. lvii sitions were sung. — Here we know nothing but the ge- neral principle, that the effects said to have resulted from the musical adaptations of Bardesanes, Harmonius, and Ephraem, must have had an adequate cause ; and that, among a people of some refinement, and at a period of the world's history when the theory and practice of music were understood, some degree of excellence may reason- ably be assumed. On the nature of the tunes, the musical instruments employed, and other interesting particulars, we are profoundly ignorant. Even the book of Stephen, the Maronite patriarch, alluded to by Benedict only to tantalize us, is wanting, and we must be satisfied at pre- sent with the meagre and somewhat obscure account of the matter given by that learned man, in the preface to the fifth volume of the works of Ephraem. We will quote all he says on the subject of the Syriac hymnology, and then add a few remarks of our own. " If anything ought to be said concerning Syriac song, Asseman has done this very learnedly in the first volume of the Bibliotheca Orientalis, under the articles Ephraem and Balaeus ; yet I will call attention here to the subject in a few words. The Syrian poetry diners from the Hebrew but little in its words fvocibusj still less in its metre, both (languages) being most ancient, and always held in honour as the interpreters of sacred things, the safeguards of religion, and the heralds of the Divine Being. But it is probable that the Syriac or Chaldee is older than the I [ebrew, since the Hebrews took their origin from the Chaldseans. Neither of these languages defines verse by d lviii INTRODUCTION'. the quantity, but by the number of the syllables ; and the verse does not exceed seven syllables, nor fall short of four. St. Ephraem frequently uses the heptasyllabic, St. Jacob of Sarug, the tetrasyllable thrice repeated, to which metres each has given his name, and Balaeus the penta- syllable." Before we go further, let us (pace tanti virlj dispose of the glaring errors of this paragraph. What is said of Asseman and his learned explication of the Syriac poetry, is a mere compliment, for little is found in the places re- ferred to, or anywhere else, but what is here given by Benedict himself. Then what is meant by the comparison of Hebrew with Syriac poetry? "What is there existing of the former except in the Old Testament, (unless indeed various valuable compositions by learned Jews in more modern times are taken into account, which could not be intended by Benedict,) and where can a verse there be found which is measured by the number of its syllables ! This is indeed solving at once the qucestio vexata of the nature of Hebrew versification, if there ever were such a thing. Further, the reference to Ephraem, and Jacob, and Balaeus, is a sad jumble, containing the veriest tra- ditionary tales, as we have already shewn. It is quite evident that the excellent Maronite here wrote on a subject he had not studied, and indeed of which he was profoundly ignorant. The paragraph is even incorrect in minor things, for Hebrew and Syriac poetry arc said to be most ancient, and the interpreters of holy things, when the languages are evidently meant. Then, Balaeus is only INTRODUCTION. lix said to have used the pentasyllable metre, while tradition ascribes its authorship to him, as the heptasyllabic to Ephraem, and the tetrasyllable thrice repeated to Jacob. Quandoque bonus dormitat Homerus. Benedict proceeds : " Further, while the Greeks re- duced their sacred hymnology to about eight tunes, and to this day confine themselves to those limits, the Syrians expatiate in two hundred and seventy-five, which their ecclesiastical books exhibit here and there, inscribing the proper tunes at the beginning of individual hymns. And indeed our codices prove that the Syrians were ignorant of no method of singing ; for in them we read, at the begin- ning of each song, what the Greeks call the Hermi, (Ippos, series, consequential from which the order and sequence of the strophes to be sung in that ode are to be deduced. Stephen, a patriarch of the Maronites, in a little work concerning the Tunes of the Syrians, endeavours to reduce them to six classes. The first, he says, consists of verses of two metres, (versibus bimetris ;) the second of verses of three metres, (and so on till we come to the sixth;) but the sixth class varies, and is formed of both simple and compound members. He afterwards reduces the whole Syriac poetry to certain titles, as it were kinds of songs, which Asseman in the above-named place partly touches upon, and then numbers them as they were presented to him in ancient manuscripts. They are thirteen in number, and all are alike in that they follow a certain metrical law, but they differ in modulation, and some also in their sub- ject matter, fargumento.J" d2 In INTRODUCTION. If we knew exactly what Stephen meant by versibus bimetris, trimetris, §c., some light might dawn upon us. Literally, it is two-metred and tliree-metred verses, that is, verses having respectively two metres, three metres, &c, which in the usage of the Greeks and Latins would be verses of two, three, four, or five feet. But as the Syrians knew nothing of feet, but measured only by syllables, this cannot be the sense of the passage, and we have trans- lated it as conveying the idea, that one kind of tune con- sisted of verses of two different measures, as pentasyllable and heptasyllabic alternately ; and so of the rest. Now while it is true that in Ephraem there are some pieces of this composition, they are too few to establish such rules as are here given. We therefore give up the subject, as one which we cannot explicate by means of the data fur- nished to us. This short discussion will shew how little real light can be gained from Asseman and Benedict, on the intricacies of the Syrian metrical literature, and how necessary it is for the student to forsake them as guides, and examine for himself. The only fact brought before us respecting the tunes is, that they Avere numerous, and that it was customary for some rubrical mark to refer hymns to a well known t} T pe according to which they were to be sung, corresponding to our one hundred and twelfth metre, long metre, short metre, fyc. III. On the existing Monuments of Syrian Metrical Literature. If onlv some few remains existed of this ancient Chris- INTRODUCTION. lxi tian hymnology, even then they would deserve attention and repay the time and labour spent in examining them. How often are antique literary relics subjected to an ex- haustive process, learned men contending which shall most explicate their intricacies by the aid of scholarship and acuteness. But the Syriac metrical compositions are very voluminous ; they extend over many centuries, and relate to important and interesting departments of the Church. We may therefore justly be surprised that they should have received so little attention, and be anxious that the stores should be made to contribute to the history and archaeology of Christendom. Before Ephraem we have nothing but fragments, such as the extracts from Bardesanes, contained in the works of that Father. The first Syrian author whose works are extant, mentioned in the catalogue of Ebed-Jesu, is Simeon, Bishop of Seleucia, who suffered martyrdom about the year 296. Asseman says, that two hymns by him are found in the sacred offices of the Chaldaeans. He is the only writer mentioned by Asseman before Ephraem, who composed in metre. We have therefore little reason to expect, whatever may lie hid in libraries, that anything will be disclosed to serve as a connecting link between Bardesanes and Ephraem. With the latter Father our distinctly defined ground may be said to begin, and we shall now attempt, as briefly as possible, to give an outline of his metrical works, as they are printed in the Roman edition. Many others are in existence, especially in the Church service books, but our means of becoming ac- Ixii INTRODUCTION. quainted with them are not equal to our wishes, and for the present they must be left out of our enumeration. We prefer making the printed works the foundation of our catalogue, to the account given of Ephraem's writings in the Bibliotheca Orientalis ; for as the two sources vary in several particulars, and the first was the latest published, it may be presumed to contain the more certain informa- tion. In the fifth volume of the Roman edition, after the conclusion of Ephraem's Commentary on the Old Testa- ment, we meet with eleven Sermones Exegetici, or metrical discourses on separate texts of Scripture. They fill eighty folio columns, and are of various lengths. They are in heptasyllabic and pentasyllable metre. The longest, and by far the most striking, is on Jonah iii. 2, 3, " And the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time, saying, Arise go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.' 1 This piece is in heptasyllabics, and extends to between five and six hun- dred strophes, of four verses each. It is a complete epic poem, describing with great power and variety of diction, the repentance of the Ninevites, as exhibited in every imaginable form of misery and sorrow. As far as we are able to form an opinion, this is the best sustained of any of Ephraem's metrical productions, and deserves to be intro- duced to English readers. We have never seen it noticed: even Asseman merely catalogues it; but wt are much mistaken if it has not, as a whole, a claim to be ranked among the productions of genuine poetic inspiration. We INTRODUCTION. Ixill will venture on a translation of a few verses, to give some idea of the style and spirit, only premising that our ren- dering is not intended to bear a critical scrutiny. — u The feast of the king ceased, And the banquets of the princes. If infants fasted from their milk, Who -would prepare to sup ? The beasts abstained from water, Who then would drink wine ? If the king put on sackcloth, Who would clothe himself in soft raiment ? If the lascivious became pure, Who would contemplate marriage ? If the luxurious were full of terror, Who would indulge laughter ? If those who were merry wept, To whom could folly be pleasing? If robbers became just, Who would defraud his fellow ? If the city trembled at its dissolution, Who would care for his own home ? Throw away the gold, And no one steals it ; Lay open the treasure, And none will violently enter it. The gay ones closed their eyes. That they might not gaze on women ; Women laid aside their ornaments, That those who looked at them might not sin. For they were conscious of this, That the ruin was a common one. For if through them others fell, They should not escape. The beautiful would not disturb The penitence of the men of the city; For they knew that on their account The repentant were mourning.'' lxiv INTRODUCTION. Some most affecting descriptions are then given of the scenes which took place in families, where mothers clasp their infants to their bosoms in hopeless agony, and the little ones, by some instinctive sympathy, seek shelter in their parents' arms. At length a ray of hope is derived by the king reminding his subjects of some former instances of divine forgiveness of penitent sinners ; and ultimately by an ingenious poetical fiction, the people are said to hear the conversation between Jonah and the Lord, and their doleful fears are turned to rapture. In the sixth of these discourses, on the third verse of the 140th Psalm fOpera, torn, v., p. 332), Ephraem thus alludes to the Apocalypse : — " John saw in his revelation A book great and wonderful, Which God himself had written, And on it wei'e seven seals. No one was able to read it, Neither in earth nor heaven, But the Son of God alone ; For he wrote it and sealed it." This is interesting, because in the Syriac version of the New Testament, the Revelation is not found. Asseman calls attention to the fact, (Bibliotheca Orientalis, torn, i., p. 141,) that the catalogue of the books contained in the canon, by Ebed-Jesu, does not contain the Apoca- lypse ; but that his authority is thus to some extent coun- teracted by the clear testimony of Ephraem, some centu- ries earlier. Some interesting remarks on the references of Ephraem to the Revelation will be found in Davidson's INTRODUCTION. lxv Treatise on Biblical Criticism, vol. ii., p. 153. Still more fully is the subject treated of by Havernick, in his Lucu- brationes Critical in Apocalypsin. And Hengstenberg, on the Revelation, quotes this very passage from Ephraem, (vol. ii., p. 432, edition Clark.) Thirteen discourses follow, De Nativitate Domini, On the Birth of Christ. These are of various lengths, and extend together to forty columns. They are of various metres, and the structure of the strophes of some of them is peculiar, and deserves examination. The last is in te- trasyllable metre, in strophes often verses, the tenth being a doxology. Christ is said to have lived only thirty years on earth, and to every one of these years is assigned an act of praise from some created beings, beginning with the cherubim in the first year, and ending with " the dead who have lived again, the living who have repented, and the heaven and the earth which by Christ have become reconciled," in the thirtieth. This is a very beautiful pro- duction, tastefully conceived, and carried out in a masterly manner. The remainder of this volume is occupied with fifty- six Sermoxes Polemici adversus ILereses, Discourses against Heresies. These fill a hundred and twenty co- lumns, and are written in various metres. Asseman gays of these : — " He refutes generally, all heresies, but espe- cially those of Bardesanes, Marcion, and Manichseus. Sometimes also he stands up against the heathen, and the Chaldseans or Astrologers." It is impossible to value this series of discourses too highly, for they are replete with lxvi INTRODUCTION, archaeological riches, the abundance of which may be ima- gined from the stores gleaned only on one topic by Hahn, in his Bardesanes Gnosticus. Perhaps nowhere can a fuller account be found of the heresies which distracted the eastern Church in the first four centuries ; while the style in which they are written, for popular use, gives occasion for many allusions to life and manners. One instance of this may be quoted. It occurs in the forty-sixth Homily, against the Manichseans, who asserted that the body of man pro- ceeded from the principle of evil. It is tetrasyllabic, and the body is thus addressed : — ;l If tliou art too poor To have the medicines Of the physicians ; The visitors of the sick come around thee, And offer up their prayers. One breathes upon thee, Another makes a sign upon thee. If then thou art from the evil one, On the part of the evil one, They pray for and mark thee. And if thou givest up the ghost, They rise up for the wailing, On account of thy departure ; They wash and anoint thee, They shake out the linen clothes. They adorn and carry thee Upon the shoulders to burial. The wailing women Are confident abont thee, That thou wast :i good man !" The sixth volume begins with eighty-seven Skkmones Polemici adveksus Scrutatores, Discourses against the INTRODUCTION. 1XV11 Scrutators. Some of these are translated in this volume, but they can only convey an idea of Ephraem's style generally, not of the variety of erudite argumentation contained in this monument of pious learning. He does not so much attack any sect of heretics specifically, as the false principle of so many of them, that God could be subjected to human reason, as to his nature, and the modes of his operation. This false principle he puts in every imaginable form, and combats with all imaginable wea- pons. The notes to the Homilies in this volume of trans- lations, will convey some information as to the design and spirit of the whole work. There are many curious and highly artificial arrangements of metres occurring here and there ; the second and third Homilies, for instance, composed in strophes of four heptasyllabic verses, are a continuous catalogue of beatitudes, each strophe beginning " Blessed is he" &c. — After these come seven Homilies, forming a separate work ; they constitute a perfect Trea- tise, called Margarita, or the Pearl, concerning Faith. It is tetrasyllabic, in strophes of ten verses ; is highly imaginative, and breathes in every word a devoted love to the Redeemer, his doctrine, and his church. It begins in this manner : — " Once on a time I took up, my brethren, A precious pearl ; I saw in it mysteries Relating to the kingdom ; Images and types Of the high Majesty. lxviii INTRODUCTION. It became a fountain And I drank from it, The mysterious things of the Son." He then takes it in his hand, examines it, and carries out his idea of its being typical, in many fanciful resem- blances. At the end of the second Homily he says : — " In thy beauty is depicted The beauty of the Son, Who put on suffering as a garment When the nails passed through Him. The boring tool passed through thee, o For they perforated thee, As they did His hands. And because of His sufferings He reigned, Even as by thy suffering, Thy beauty is increased." The following, in the fifth Homily, is a pretty idea, and although it may seem far-fetched to us, the principle of allegorizing which it involves was common in the early ( Ihurch. — " Men who had put off their clothing, Dived and drew thee forth A precious pearl ! It was not kings Who first presented thee To the children of men ; But the mystically naked,/* Even men who wore poor, And fishermen in occupation. And natives of Galilee. o From this and other passages it appears that the pearl was one fashioned by art for the purposes of personal ornament. There is a paronomasia here incapable of any expression in English. - >- - . \ ^ is both one naked, and «n Aposth. This gives great vivacity to tin' original. INTRODUCTION. lxix '• For bodies which are clothed, Have not the power To come near to thee ; But those which are destitute of raiment Like little children. They buried their bodies in the sea, And descended to thy side, And thou didst receive them kindly, And didst entrust thyself to them, Who so much loved thee '' Their tongues first published The glad tidings of thee, Before these poor men Opened their bosoms, And drew forth and displayed Their new riches, Among the merchants ; They placed thee as bracelets Upon the wrists of men As a life-giving amulet I" Three Homilies follow on the same subject as the eighty against the Scrutators, but they are much longer, and are found separate in the manuscripts. They occupy above forty columns, and enter at great length into the folly and evil consequences of presumptuous investigation of divine things. For observations illustrative of the Scratatores, see the Notes on Homily III., Ad Clerum. A heptasyllabic homily, in strophes of four verses, and filling eighteen columns, completes Ephraem's published controversial works : it is entitled, Sermo adversus Judceos, and in the Syriac title is said to have been delivered on the first of the week of the Hosannahs, that is on Palm Sunday. It is a highly- wrought poetical piece, and would lxx INTRODUCTION. alone stamp Ephraem as a man of sanctified genius. It commences with an invocation to the Church to praise God for his blessings, and then takes occasion from the day 9 to dwell on the rejection of the Jews by their God, on account of their rejection of Christ. The treatment of the cast-off seed of Jacob is very tender, when compared with the way in which Ephraem makes short work with the heretics ; and his heart evidently yearns after the ful- filment of the promises made to the fathers. He makes this pathetic enquiry (p. 215) : — " Where is the beauty of thy youth, The glory of thine espousals ? Where are now thy days, Thy former ones of old time ? Where is thy praise and thine honour, And thy adornment and thy splendour ? Where is the house which king Solomon Erected for thy glory ? Where is the priest and the ephod Who waited in thy ministry ? Where the girdle which was bound on hi in, The chain also and the turban P Where the fine linen and the scarlet, The golden bells and the pomegranates ? Where are thy solemn assemblies, Thy new moons, ami thy stated observances? Joy hath ceased with thee, .m - q> (Mtwi mwm EPHRAEM SYRUS. ' And since it is not profitable fob us to be silent and restrained, Let our infirmity render to Thef. The song of our thanksgiving. Thou Good ! who dost not exact More than our ability, How will Thy servant be condemned Both in principal and interest, Should he not give what he is able. But hold back what he owes ! O Thou sea of glory, Who needest not to be glorified ! Receive in Thy goodness The drop of thanksgiving : — Thou, who hast by Thy gift Harmonized my tongue for Thy praise !" s. Bphraem. in natatem Domini. METRICAL HYMNS. (On tijr Drntjj nf a Cjilil. MOTIVES FOR RESTRAINING SORROW. (axon XXXVI., torn. vi.. p. 293. Oh my Son, tenderly beloved ! Whom grace fashion ed n In his mother's womb, And divine goodness completely formed/' He appeared in the world Suffering like a flower ; b And Death put forth a heat More fierce than the sun, And scattered its leaves And withered it, that it ceased to be. B METRICAL HYMNS OF I fear to weep for thee, Because I am instructed That the Son of the Kingdom hath removed thee To His bright habitation. Nature, in its fondness, Disposes me to tears, Because, my son, of thy departure. But when I remember the bright abode To which they have led thee, I fear lest I should defile The dwelling-place of the King By weeping, which is adverse to it ; And lest I should be blamed, For coming to the region of bliss With tears which belong to sadness ; I will therefore rejoice, Approaching with my pure offering/ The sound of thy sweet notes Once moved me and caught mine car/ And caused me much to wonder ; Again my memory listens to it, And is affected by the tones And harmonies of thy tenderness. But when my spirit groans aloud On account of these things, My judgment recalls me, And listens with admiration To the voices of those who live on high ; EPHRAEM SYRUS. To the song of the spiritual ones Who cry aloud, Hosannah ! At thy marriage festival. This beautiful hymn is tetrasyllabic, in strophes of fourteen lines. The reference to a flower seems to intimate that the title given. " On the Death of a Child," may be correct, although other parts of the hymn will apply to a youth. Benedict has this note, " In Funere Puerorum." No hymn which the writer has consulted gives a finer idea of the mind and heart of Ephraem. Nature speaks in every line, in conjunction with the sentiments taught by divine grace. It is probable that the departed was a singer in the choir, whose sweet voice touched and melted the heart of the monk. The allusion to the echoes awakened by memory in the third strophe is very affecting. « "Fashioned/" and •' completely formed.'" — There appears to be a gradation in the Syriac, which is attempted to be preserved in the translation. 'GL» is properly figuravit, dejdnodt, as in Gal iii. 1, "before whose eyes Jesus Christ was p^ 5^D clearly represented, or depicted.'" But the second word "° it signi- fies forrnare, to form that, the model of which was before con- ceived, as the potter moulds the clay. (Rom. ix. 20, 21.) h " Suffering like a flower.'" — Literally, his passions, or tibilities, J 1 » .» (were) those ofafioioer. c "Son of the Kingdom." — A term often used of Jesus Christ by Ephraem. The idea seems to be gathered from such texts as Luke xxii. 29. " And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me." (See Hymn VII.) d " Pure."' — f » g*> » i.e., an offering of gladness, unmixed with the baser matter of mere natural sorrow. * " Caught my ear.'* — . m r> i knocked at my < b2 4 METRICAL HYMNS OF II. (Dtt ^t Stot|r nf Cjji THEIR BLESSEDNESS. (Cahoh XLIII., torn, vi., p. 299.) Let the little children be pledges" with Thee, And above, in heaven, let them be Thy guests ; Let them be intercessors for all of us, For pure is the prayer of childhood. Blessed is He who entertains them in His paviliou. Our Saviour took children in His arms And blessed them before the multitudes ; And shewed that He loved childhood ; Because it is pure and free from defilement. Blessed is He who makes them dwell in His taber- nacle. The Just One saw that iniquity increased on earth And that sin had dominion over all men ; And sent His messenger and removed A multitude of fair little ones, And called them to the pavilion of happiness. Like lilies taken from the wilderness Children arc planted in paradise ; And like pearls in diadems Children are inserted in the Kingdom j And without ceasing shall hymn forth praise. EPHRAEM SYRUS. Who will not rejoice at seeing Children taken to the heavenly pavilion ? b Who will weep for childhood That has fled from the snares of sin ? Lord ! make ns happy with them in Thy habitation. Glory be to Him who hath taken away The little ones and made them meet for Paradise ; Glory be to Him who hath removed children And placed them in a garden of pleasures. Lo ! they are happy there without danger ! Octosyllabic, the strophes of five verses, the fifth antiphonal, sung either in chorus or by a separate part of the choir. (See Hymn XIII. for a note on this metre.) a ,k Pledges." — 1 » . Vn rn i.q., dpripcia. The undoubted meaning is pignus, obses. See Numbers xxi. 29, "He hath given his sons *| . . Vn rn hostages unto Sihon," &c. Pledges entrusted to God by us and on our behalf; as is evident from the third verse, " Let them be intercessors, &c." Benedict renders it pars tua. thy por- tion, without any apparent reason. 1> " Pavilion." — (JO 1 .i This word occurs so frequently as to render it difficult to avoid an unpleasant reiteration in the trans- lation. The true meaning is tent, tabernacle, and the idea con veyed is one entirely oriental ; the free use of synonyms is. there- fore, allowable. > METRICAL HYMNS OF III. (Dtt tip Dentlj nf CJnitam THE SORROWS IT PRODUCES. — THE SOURCES OF CONSOLATION. (Canon XXXVII., torn, vi., p. 294.) How bitter is the grief For the death of childhood ; How grievous the separation Of the infant^ from ks mother : — Train it up (Lord) in Thy dwelling ! This day afflicts* The fathers through their sons ; And death now breaks The staff of their old age : — Lord ! may they lean on Thee ! This day removes The only child" from its mother, And cuts off the arm Which would have been her stay : — In Thee, Lord, may she trust ! This day separates The little one from its parent, And leaves her in the wilderness Of suffering and grief: — Do Thou, Lord, comfort her ! EPHRAEM SYRUS. 7 This day divides The sucking-child from the breast ; And (the mother^) wails and grieves Because her intercourse with it hath perished : — May she see it in the Kingdom ! O happy infancy Which hath gained Paradise ! Alas ! for old age, Which still remains in sorrow ! Lord, be Thou its helper ! This beautiful little hymn is pentasyllable, the strophes consisting of five verses, the last being antiphonal. a " The infant." — fjQ^ infantulus, lactens, infant or sucking- child. The same word occurs in the fifth strophe, and is rendered sucking-child to avoid repetition, on the principle defended in the Introduction. b " This day afflicts." — The literal rendering of 001 jlDQ_» *-«u*^!D5 is, This is the day which hath afflicted ; and some hesi- tation was felt as to the propriety of giving that translation. But a further acquaintance with the same formula in other hymns gained the preference for the simpler version. This hymn was not written for a special case, but was intended for general use, when infants and children were committed to the tomb. This is indicated by the mention not only of a sucking-child, but also of more advanced children, so that the hymn was adapted for all who had not attained to youth. The case is thus brought under the rule given by Gesenius in his Hebrew Grammar, — " The prseter is used for our present tense where this denotes a condition already long con- tinued and still existing, or a permanent, habitual course of action ; as Psalm i. 1, 'Happy is the man who walks not (-pn) in the counsel of the ungodly, &c.' " That the relative > has often an 8 METRICAL HYMNS OF expletive character, usque ad nauseam, to use the words of Hahn, is well known to every reader of Syriac verse. Benedict uses the past tense in this hymn, but in Canon XXXIV. the present. c " The only child." — In a specimen of this work issued by the translator, J,_l>^j was rendered the beloved one; and, although he has altered it at the suggestion of a learned friend, he is still disposed to think the former version preferable. In Psalm xxii. 21, ttvtv occurs, and Gesenius renders it, " unicum, inde carissimum." In Genesis xxii. 2, Isaac is said to be the only son of Abraham (tjv) which was not true in fact, and the translation of the LXX. probably conveys the exact meaning, tov ayamfrbv, thy beloved son. The death of an only child is an occurrence too rare to war- rant a reference to it in a hymn for general use, and on this ground the sense of beloved seems the more correct one. d " And (the mother) wails and grieves." — There is here no nominative case expressed, and it has been suggested that f ^ ^ *"> the breast, should be supplied. ( °\ 1 D is of common gender, and therefore, grammatically, might be construed with f > \| but as that would introduce a very far-fetched figure, and destroy the beauty of the prayer in the last verse of the strophe, the ellipse of the text has been preferred. Benedict makes the mother the nominative. EPHRAEM SYRUS. IV. (Dn tyt Mjr nf f ntttjr. (Cahon XXXIV., torn, vi., p. 292.) The day of death Is common to all men ; But is bitter and grievous In the season of youth : — Comfort Thou me, O Lord ! This day are separated Bridegrooms and brides j And instead of dancing There is funereal wailing : a — Let them come to Thy marriage-feast ! The world calls thee, " Go forth to labour :" The grave calls thee, " Come, rest thou weary one :" — Glory be to Him who gives thee repose ! This day adorns The child for the sepulchre ; It adorns the youth also, Dismissing him to the tomb : — Let them be happy in Thy tabernacle ! b 3 10 METRICAL HYMNS OF Alas ! for thee, early youth ! The crown of old age ! Who hath extinguished thy beauty ? And caused thy comeliness to fade ? — Thou shalt rejoice in the Kingdom ! Let old age weep That youth is no more ! Which should have been a support To the ancient in days : — Let it lean upon Thy power ! Pentasyllabic, in strophes of five verses, the last being anti- phonal. « There is a paronomasia in the text, founded on the double use of the word ^OJ to dance. Music and dancing were used at funerals as well as feasts; as (Matt. ix. 23) the minstrels made a noise on the death of the daughter of the ruler. EPHRAEM SYRUS. 11 V. (Do t(r* Djatjr nf it f%mtg Ifimn. (Canon XXXV., torn, vi., p. 292.) This day stimulates Our eyes to weeping, Our hands to signs of woe, And our moutli to lamentation : — Lord ! be Thou my comforter ! This day invites Very many to shed tears, For whoever enters or departs, His mouth is full of mourning : — May we be consoled by Thy goodness ! This day makes void The covenant of espousals, And in place of a bridal Prepares a sepulchre : — Let them rejoice at thy marriage-feast ! This day dismisses The body from life, And instead of sweet perfumes It is anointed with clay : a — Let us be gladdened with celestial fragrance. 12 METRICAL HYMNS OF The day of death Is a bitter day, It causes all to weep And moves every one to sadness : — Lord, may we see Thy day ! This day cuts off, And takes away a member, From the united body Of brothers and kindred : — By Thee, Lord, let it be restored ! This day the fathers die, And are removed from us, And leave their children Orphans and dependent :* — Do Thou, Lord, train them up ! This day divides The brother from his brethren, And makes the number less, And diminishes the active members :'■' — Lord, by Thee let them be completed ! This day separates The husband from the wife, And the widow is desolate,' 7 Because her companion hath ceased to be In Eden may she behold him ! EFHRAEM SYRUS. 13 This day removes The friend from him he loves, Like two oxen let loose From the yoke which united them : — Let Thy love bind them together ! The day of thy birth Made thy parents happy, The day of thy death Gives sorrow to thy survivors f — In Eden may they see thee ! This hymn, like the two former, is pentasyllable, in strophes of five verses, the last being antiphonal. With Benedict it is entitled, " On the Death of a Young Person ;" but internal evidence would rather claim for it a more general designation. Almost all ages are alluded to in it. Halm entitles it, " On the Death of the Father of a Family." "■ " It is anointed with clay." — 0"l_^ ^>^ fi V) { 1 i CO The only meaning given to f ^ » ^ in the Lexicons is lutum, ccemem . but this scarcely yields a sense harmonizing with the connection. Is not 1 1 i CO the same as the Latin sanies ? Benedict renders the passage, — " Xaturam mors solvit, unde exanime corpus Arabia magis ante odoratim, nunc graveolente tabo aspersum jjutet." We are glad to escape this, alas ! too correct, description, in the text. b " Dependent." — jl . m » .> The literal meaning is ablactus, weaned, 1 Sam. i. 24, " And when she had weaned him. 1 ' The collateral idea, deprived of the natural sources of support, and therefore de- pendent on others, may justify the translation of the text. c "The active members." — | A (n . literally the fingers. No allusion to this metaphor is found in the Lexicons. d " The widow is desolate." — (S N\ Zu»V\tZ] the rib is barren. Benedict, " Casta manebit vidua." e "Survivors." — |Zoj_» heirs. 14 METRICAL HYMNS OF VI. (Drt tjtt Dtatji nf a ^titrate tymm. (Cakon XXV., torn. vi., p. 276.) "I am going away, and fear not, For my Lord calleth to me, ' Come, and I will crown thee V He placeth a wreath of glory on my head And maketh me happy." The angels who removed thee from us Have conducted thee to Eden ; They have given thee as an offering to thy Creator, Depart in peace ! An abundant treasure Full of good things, make ready for thy servant, And let his spirit rest in peace In the midst of the kingdom. The cornet sounds And the voice of the trumpet waxeth loud, And the dead live again, and rise up From their sepulchres. The righteous fly Upon the clouds to meet their Lord, And enter with Him into the habitation Which is full of joys. EPHRAEM SYRUS. 15 Thy garland is twined In Eden, O thou blessed one/ From amaranthine flowers, In the midst of the Kingdom. Glory be to the living voice Which speaks in thunders in the midst of Hades ; 6 And the dead hear it and arise again From their burial places. In the day when the trumpet sounds, Make me meet, O Lord, To sing Thy praise worthily — In the day of the resurrection. Depart in peace, O beloved fruit c which Death hath plucked ! Abraham comes forth to meet thee, And bids thee welcome. The gate of Paradise Opens and expects thee to enter, That thou mayest rest and be happy To all eternity. Let praise ascend, O Lord, To Thee from all Thy creatures, For Thou gatherest from every place The rebellious children of Adam/* 16 METRICAL HYMNS OF The metre of this hymn is tetrasyllable in the first and fourth verses, heptasyllabic in the second and third ; the strophes of four verses each. The title given by Benedict is, In Funere Cleri- corum. But there appears nothing in the hymn itself to confine it to a particular class. a " Thou blessed one." — fJL£}Q_£ is frequently applied to de- parted saints ; thus the Syriac translator of the Festal Letters of Athanasius speaks of the blessed 3Ioses, the blessed Esther, tyc. (Cureton's text, p. 33.) It corresponds to the Greek o fiaKaplrrfs. In more recent ecclesiastical language |JL£}Q_£ has the sense of pious, devout, and is often used as a noun for a monk. (See Hymn VIII.) h " Hades." — \>0 > t> sheol; this word will always be rendered Hades in these translations, unless the sense of the grave is plainly intended. c " O beloved fruit." — If there were any ambiguity in the word translated fruit, |5]^ the unusual character of the figure would lead probably to the adoption of another term. Benedict has trans- lated it flos, flower, but contrary to all authority. The expres- sion, however, is exceedingly natural and of great beauty. In Hymn I. a child is compared to a flower, on account of its beauty and liability to decay ; here, one of advanced life is called fruit, to designate maturity and usefulness. d " The rebellious children of Adam."— By., ^O?)? CTlJflO the rebellion, or apostacy, of Adam. EPHRAEM SYRUS. 17 VII. " Who must pass over." — Observe the difference of the terms here, and in Hymn XI IT. 20 METRICAL HYMNS OF VIII. (Dtt tire Dealt} nf a SBtsljnf (CANor II., torn, vi., p. 228.) Who will not rejoice That this blessed one hath triumphed ? Who wall not weep That the conqueror hath departed ? Who was the salt of our souls. a Since the hour of death Cannot be avoided, Let your tears cease to flow, But exalt your voices high In praise of the hero. 6 Make your psalms abundant ; Give thanks to Him who hath taken him away, And praise Him who hath separated him from us, And placed him in the bosom Of the upright who were his friends. Thou wert the companion of the chaste, And the brother of the perfect ; The image of good men of olden time ; The exemplar of such as have finished their course With them mayest thou delight thyself ! Thy Lord hath bestowed upon thee An abiding habitation, EPHRAEM SYRUS. 21 Because thy youth rejected A transitory home f — In Eden may est thou be happy ! The day of thy birth* Was known only to thy Lord ; The day of thy death Is known to all men : — It hath prepared for thee great felicity/ No more does there exist The burden of thy mortal part ; Thy portion henceforth Is in the midst of Paradise : — Glory be to Him who hath chosen thee ! Thy Lord was at all times Before thine eyes ; And thou didst haste diligently To the mark set before thee : — To that hath He removed thee. Who will not weep Because of thy departure ? Who will not rejoice Because the crown is thine ? Glory be to Him who hath chosen thee ! Pextasyllabic, in strophes of five verses, the last being anti- phonal. 22 METRICAL HYMNS OF a " Who was the salt of our souls." — Many conjectural illustra- tions of this expression might be given, but the reference is pro- bably to our Lord's declaration, Ye are the salt of the earth, (Matt. v. 13.) f> "In praise of the hero." — ]_^j_AZ| the Greek AOXrjry'js ; but as this expresses more the act of wrestling or striving, while the departed was a conqueror, hero is preferable. e " A transitory home." — This is all the text conveys. Benedict construes it into a state of celibacy, " Quidni Dominus juberet 6b spretam in ipso cetatis flore jugalis tori jncunditatem" 8fc. d " The day of thy birth." — The meaning of this strophe is somewhat obscure. There appears to be a contrast between the entrance of a child into the world, an event known to few ; and the departure of the same from life, after a course of public usefulness, an event known to many. 6 " Great felicity." — Sy., jiDQ_£ happinesses; the emphatic plural, of which there are many instances in these hymns. EPHRAEM SYRUS. 23 IX. cDn tjp Dtatjj nf a Dwnra. (Canon XIII., torn, vi., p. 247".) Behold ! our member is departed From this troubled world, To that tranquil light ; On his departure let us pray : — That his Guide may have mercy on him ! Well disciplined in public duties He was chaste in private life, In gentleness and peace He abounded towards his brethren : — Make him happy in Thy tabernacle ! His eyes were watchful In standing before Thee ; And they wept in prayer, And made entreaty for his sins : — May they see Thy loving-kindness ! Thou didst count him worthy To minister in Thy sanctuary, And to distribute" Thy body And Thy blood to Thy flock :— Nourish him with Thy lambs ! 24 METRICAL HYMNS OF He was cheerful, and full Of affection to his brethren ; And his hospitality Was fervent in its tenderness : b — Number him -with Thy beloved ones ! He loved to proclaim The words of Thy doctrine, And delighted to listen to The utterances of the Spirit : — Let him hear the sound of the trumpet ! He wondered at and admired The riches of Thy oracles ; And his heart exulted In the words of the Holy Ghost : — Unite him with Thy glorified ones ! He despised worldly pleasures And slighted ease ; Let him rest at Thy table — Let him find enjoyment in Thy light — With the upright who have loved Thee ! Pentasyllabic, in strophes of five verses, the last verse of each being antiphonal. a " To distribute." — «-jl_-^2) dirisit, peculiariter in duas i>",-t, v. Castel. Benedict has porrigere, to extend, to hold out to. >' ( >r, in his charity hospitality urns fervent. EPHRAEM SYRUS. 25 1 ^nnjn* in ttje ^rnsptrt nf D?atj). (Canon LXI, torn, vi., p. 326.) O Lord ! appoint me not a place with the wicked ; Do Thou, Lord, confess me who have confessed Thee; Set me not on Thy left hand, Lest I become a companion to Satan ! Let me not lift up my voice in the flame, Who by hymns have praised Thee ; Let me not cry out from the midst of darkness, Who in the night-season have glorified Thee. Number me not with Thy crucifiers, Thou, whose cross was my refuge ; Let not my head be humbled in judgment, O Thou Judge, greater than all judges ! The above is heptasyllabic, in strophes of four verses. 26 METRICAL HYMNS OF XI. (Dn tl)t Dtntjj nf a fxlnlt |toti (Canon LXXXII., torn, vi., p. 356.) Glorious and terrible is the day of Thy appearing When Thon fliest through the vault of the firmament, And the sublime gates are opened Before the splendour of Thy power. The gates of high heaven, and of the depth beneath, And of the firmament, cover their faces ; And the archangel, Gabriel, Expands the banner of Thy cross, To the glory and exultation Of the children of the faithful Church ; But to the shame and sorrow Of Heathendom and Judaism. And Thou shalt shout with Thy mighty voice, And the bosom of the grave shall be emptied, And the dead shall rise incorruptible ; And all nations, peoples, and tongues Shall cry, " Glory be to Thee I" In the great day of Thy appearing The cornet and the trumpet shall sound, And the angels shall descend from their seats And sing psalms of praise to God. Then quickly shall be awakened Those who slept, and render praise EPHRAEM SYRUS. 27 With their exulting voices. And those who have done good, Shall enter with Him into the pavilion ; And the door shall be closed In the faces of the wicked. Lord, let not the door of Thy compassion Be shut against me ! Glory be to Thee ! Our brother is taken from our congregation, Let us all honour his death earnestly ; Let us enter and entreat from the merciful God In whose hands is our death and our life, That He will bring him to the region of light With the upright who are accepted in His presence. And that he may hear Him say to him, " Come, enter and inherit the kingdom Which cannot pass away \" a Which Christ hath prepared for the elect who have loved Him, In a world abounding in blessedness. How lamentable is thy death And grievous thy departure ; And there is sorrow to all men Because of thy removal ; For thou hast migrated from thy abode And gone to the place of strangers. According to the word of the preacher 11 That every one who does not suffer for me c2 28 METRICAL HYMNS OF Hath not life in himself/'* Now that thou hast perfected The commandment of thy gracious Lord, He will make thee rest with Him In the unfading habitation of light ! This hymn is heptasyllabic, but very irregular, both in the verses and the strophes. There is some internal evidence that two fragments are united in one piece. The second strophe ends with a doxology, " Glory be to Thee ;" and the third introduces a new subject. a " Come enter and inherit, &c." — This appears to be a combi- nation of two texts of Scripture : Matt. xxv. 34, and Heb. xii. 28. The word Zj-» inherit, seems to identify the former. b " According to the word of the preacher." — There can be no question that this is intended to be a quotation, although there is no passage of Scripture exactly like it. If the reading t-_»A-^lD on my account, is the correct one, some statement of our Lord would appear to be indicated. The sentiment is contained in an affirma- tive form in 2 Tim. ii. 12, " If ive suffer roe shall also reign with Him;" and Rom. viii. 17, "// so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together." It is remarkable that St. Paul introduces the first text as though it were a quotation : " The say- ing is faithful." Perhaps Ephraem and the Apostle both refer to some traditional sayings of our Lord, many of which must have circulated in the early Church ; like that quoted by Clemens Alexandrinus, Yiveade Soki/lloi Tpa7re<£i7ai, Be ye skilful money- changers. EPHRAEM SYRTJS. 29 XII. €§t parting nf $nhj anil h\\L (Cawon LTX., torn, vi., p. 325.) The soul having left the body/ Is in great suffering, And feels much grief; And she is distracted Hither and thither, As to her destination ; For the evil spirits desire That she should go with them Into the midst of Gehennah ; And the angels also, That she should journey with them, To the region of light. In that moment, The soul lightly esteems Her beloved friends and brethren, Those whom she held dear, And her neighbours, And those with whom she was familiar. In that hour she despises Whatsoever appertains to riches, Or worldly possessions j But respecting her trespasses She has great anxiety, They being so many. 30 METRICAL HYMNS OF Then the soul standing separate Above the body she hath left, Speaks thus to it, — " Death hath dismissed me Remain thou here in peace For I am going away." Then the body replies, — 1 ( Depart thou in peace, O soul tenderly loved ! The Lord who hath fashioned us, He will procure our deliverance From Gehennah I" The metre is tetrasyllabic, in strophes of twelve verses. The con- struction is very regular, the third line of the second strophe excepted, which contains six syllables. a " The soul having left the body." — f o 2 1 (V) > O literally, the soul rising. The same form occurs in the first line of the third strophe. The verb ^OQ-D is often used of the Resurrection, as Mark xii. 26. The soul rises from the body, now prostrated by death, as the body itself will rise at the last day. Benedict renders, " Animus corpore solutus." EPHRAEM SYRUS. 31 XIII. 9xpm ntt tlje tottrrattntL (Canon XLII., torn, vi., p. 298.) When the air of the Resurrection shall breathe softly, The bones of the righteous shall be gathered together;" Aud at the voice of the trumpet they shall arise, By the power of God which causeth them to stand up. In the day when the righteous shall awake, The heaven and the earth will be made new ; And men will give an account of themselves, And the children of the bridechamber^ shall not be found wanting. The perfect shall exult in the kingdom, And be united with the angels ; And hearing the loud sound of the trumpet, Shall overthrow death with songs of triumph. When the rising of the righteous is manifested, Evil men and deceivers shall be condemned ; In fire and darkness they shall be tormented, Who in their arrogancy despised the upright. When they come to the gate of Paradise, Of its own accord it shall open to them ; The guarding cherub c shall salute them worshipfully, Playing on his harp and coming to meet them. 32 METRICAL HYMNS OF They see the bridegroom when he is revealed And cometh from the East with rejoicings ; He will give them wings, and without delay, They will fly through the air and worship him. " Come, enter ye children of the light \" Jesus will cry to His beloved ones in that hour : " Receive your crowns, the reivard of your labour, Ye heirs of an everlasting kingdom \" Both the just and the unjust shall pass through^ The fire which is to try them, and shall be proved by it; The righteous pass and the flame is quiet, But it burnetii the wicked and snatcheth them away. Solitary is Hades — it hath become a desolate land ! The graves are opened and emptied ; And the children of Adam rise from the dust, And the creatures 6 ascend to their Lord ! This hymn is octosyllabic, in strophes of four lines each. It is re- gular in its construction, although it has some marked synasreses. Thus, the first line of the last strophe consists of ten syllables in- stead of eight. This octosyllabic metre is of comparatively rare, occurrence in Ephraem; but the present is an undoubted example. Bee also Hymn II.) a There is lure a plain reference to Ezekiel's vision of the dry bones, (chap, xxxvii.) Ephraem, iii Ids comment <>n that passage, says, " The Spirit of God discovers to Ezekiel the future resur- EPHRAEM SYRUS. 33 rection of the dead." (torn, v., p. 194.) The use of the word 5|| instead of |_k»o5 in this, and other places, arises partly from an effort of the language to gain copiousness ; 5 ( | being the Greek word arjp ; partly perhaps from the greater sanctity attached to (_K*c5 as the name of the Holy Ghost. ?> " The children of the bridechamber." — j i n 1 , .^ . -rn n i «^ the expression used in the Peschito, Matt. ix. 15. c The words are taken from Gen. iii. 24. The word for cherub is plural in the Hebrew text, but here and in the Peschito it is singular. On the passage in Genesis, Ephraern says, " The guard of Paradise was a living being, acting voluntarily," (torn, iv., p. 39.) d " Shall pass through." — u-iOTLC) -; ^ ^ a different construc- tion from that rendered " passing over," in Hymn VII., and elsewhere. « " The creatures ascend." — This general statement acquires a more definite form by comparing it with Romans viii. 22. There, as here, the plural ]A_ij-0 is used; the context in both places limiting the expression to mankind. Benedict evades the difficulty by leaving the passage untranslated. 34 METRICAL HYMXS OF XIV. 1 justum, cequvmfuit; and is used by the Peschito for ciKaioavvrj in Matt. vi. 1 ; the ideas of justice, and clemency, or benevolence being used as cognate in many languages. 9 "Clothed in white raiment." — |5Q-k> white {garments.) The same word is used in John xx. 12. Benedict renders it byssus, fine linen ; and probably the quality as well as the colour is here alluded to. h " Turned to blackness." — Literally, are become the colour of coals, i " Improved their complexions." — Sy., polished. The word *OjlD is tersit, expolivit, and in Aphel, lavit. The two ideas toge- ther describe the care taken to improve the skin by cosmetics. * " Artfully disguised their faces" — i.e., by the use of pigments. 40 METRICAL HYMNS OF intended to heighten or lessen the colour, according to the con- ventional standard of beauty. One meaning of »-kj^£D is frau- dulenter egit in cdiquem. Benedict translates this and the former verse, — " Qui pigmentis for mam mentiri solebant." 1 " Painted their eyelids." — Sy. .nr n i . V n/ \*~> - adorned their eyes. Benedict, " Ocidos stibio ante renidentes." ™ " And the worm corrodes their eyes." — Literally, sucks, derives nourishment from. Benedict, " Serpente tinea corrosos ac popidatos ocidos." EPHRAEM SYR.US. 41 XV. CJrrist fyt Cnmjmtttira nf fyt (Canon LXXXI., torn, vi., p. 355.) As my provision for my journey" I have taken Thee, Oh Thou Son of God ! And when I am hungry I will eat of Thee, Thou Saviour of the world ! The fire will keep far off from my members, Perceiving in me the savour of Thy body and blood. Baptism shall become to me A ship which cannot sink ;* And I shall see Thee there, oh Lord, In the day of the resurrection/ 1 was living in my place of sojourn (Thus speaks the soul), But the Master of the house sent to me, And I am not permitted to continue. The messenger thus addressed me : — u Depart from the house and vacate its chambers \" Oh my body, my temporary home, Remain here in peace ! And in the day of the resurrection I shall see thee rejoicing. 42 METRICAL HYMNS OF The lictors came with speed, But I was ignorant of it ; The messenger stood at the door, But I did not perceive him ; Deliver me, Lord, from the judgment of the devil, Who hateth Thy renowned children ; And with Thy holy ones may I attain To the house of the kingdom ; That I may utter a song of praise, And with them glorify Thee. How bitter is this cup Which death hath mingled ! And how terrible is the time, And how grievous the hour, Which calleth for Thee ! The soul saith to the body, u Remain thou here in peace, O much loved habitation, In which I once dwelt While the Lord was willing." How saddened is the sinner In his heart at that hour, When the king Messiah shall sit Upon His dreadful judgment-scat ; And all tribes shall stand before Him, And all secrets of the heart shall be revealed. EPHRAEM SYRUS. 43 Terrible is the tribunal ! Terrible is the Judge,, and that season ! Blessed is he whom Thy favour Shall protect, oh Lord ! This int eresting hymn is heptasyllabic and tetrasyllabic in alter- nate verses. The strophes, as divided in the printed text, contain ten verses each, except the two last, the former of which is defi- cient, and the latter redundant in the number of verses. There is either much confusion in the arrangement of these portions, or the harmony has to be elicited by rules as yet undiscovered. a " My provision for my journey." — ]>o5ojj ]>Ol a viaticum, occurs hi Gen. xlii. 25 ; in the English version, " provision for the way:'' (See Hymn XXIV.) i " A ship which cannot sink." — An evident allusion to 1 Peter Hi. 21, " The like figure whereunto, even baptism, doth now save us," the ark being the type, baptism the antitype. It is true that the Textus Beceptus by «£ avrhv-irov, makes water the type, but the reading adopted by Tischendorf, o civtitvttov, allows the in- terpreter to refer to the ark as the emblem of baptism. The Pes- chito leaves the matter doubtful. c " In the day of the resurrection." — This strophe gives a suc- cinct description of the views of Ephraem as to the state of the soul after death, which are alluded to and amplified in many of the hymns. A journey has to be undertaken, and the course leads to a sea or lake of flame, which must be passed before the resurrec- tion is attained to. By the body and blood of Christ the fiery waves would be innocuous, and by the ship of baptism, the soul would safely pass the terrible abyss. (Compare Hymns XIII. and XXI.) 44 METRICAL HYMNS OF XVI. cDn tjj? Mjr nf o 3tak. (Canon XVII., torn, vi., p. 262.) His lips have sung The psalms of the Spirit : a Pardon his offences, And let him shout aloud in Thy kingdom : — " Glory be to Him who had mercy on me \" He bore in early youth Thy pleasant yoke : Break off and cast from him The fetters of sin j — And make him happy in Thy tabernacle ! He voluntarily denied himself The pleasures of a temporal home ; b And desired earnestly the dwelling Prepared for the perfect : — Unite him with the perfect ones ! He laboured to reconcile Brethren who were angry with each other, And brought them together For good, in Thy habitation : c — Let his dwelling-place be in Eden. EPHRAEM SYRUS. 45 He ministered to his fellow-servants, As Thou didst command him f And made himself to be The last of all men : — Let him sit down at Thy table ! He confessed Thee, oh Lord, Before the children of men ; Confess him also Before Thy Father :— According as Thou hast promised/ Do good to him in Thy loving-kindness, And forgive his trespasses ; Thou who alone art good, And the pardoner of offences : — Forgive his trespasses '/ Infirmities oppressed him In the time of his old age ; Do Thou renew his youth? In the Eden of pleasures : — Give him life in Thy tabernacle ! And as even in old age And bodily infirmity, He was constantly devoted To the service of Thy house : — Let him praise Thee with the upright ! 46 METRICAL HYMNS OF This hymn is very exact in its composition. It is pentasyllabic, in strophes of five verses, the last being antiphonal. The syn- tactical construction is a little altered in the translation to avoid the use of the pronoun Him at the beginning of each strophe. a " The psalms of the Spirit." — This sentence admits of two interpretations. It may mean the inspired Psalms, referring to those in the Old Testament ; or it may signify spiritual songs generally, productions of a spiritual character, embodying the feel- ings of the heart. The expression (_k»o5> f ; » ^^ } is in the Peschito version of Ephesians v. 19, for the ivtais 7rvevfia7iKa?* of the Textus Receptus. Tischendorf omits 7rvev/j.aTiica?<} in his edition of 1841, but restores it in that of 1849. h " The pleasures of a temporal home." — The Syriac is more definite in its allusion to celibacy. Benedict translates : — " Cceli- bem, et quique a nuptiali hujus temporis thalamo abstinuit." c « For good, in Thy habitation." — The desirableness of inspect- ing and comparing MSS. is illustrated in this verse. As it is divided in the printed copy the passage would read — lie laboured to reconcile Brethren who were angry with each other And brought them together For good : In Thy habitation let his dwelling-place be in Eden. Besides the awkwardness of the sentiment of the last verse which this arrangement produces, it gives three syllables to the fourth verse and seven to the fifth, instead of five to each. Probably the |£DQ_L in the fourth verse means the monastery or convent to which the deceased monk belonged : — he brought the brethren to a state of peace for good in Thy convent. This makes a good sense, and restores the harmony of the text, interrupted by the printed pointing. That |^lDQ_L means a monastery is undoubted. See Bernstein's Lexicon in loc, and Michaelis's note in Castell. Bene- dict evades the difficulty. d " As Thou didst command him." — The reference is to Luke xxii. 20: — u Let him thai is chief among you be as he that serveth," compared with verse 30 : — " Thai ye may eii at my table," &c. EPHRAEM SYRUS. 47 e " As Thou hast promised." — See Matt. x. 32. As Ephraem distinctly employs the sentiment of this text, it is worth exami- nation whether he quotes the Syriac version accurately or from memory. The principal words of the sentence are found to cor- respond very closely with the Peschito, except that rendered Father. In the Peschito it is \jO\ the word always used to desig- nate the Father; in Ephraem it is J5Q^_» genitor, the begetter; which is only once found in the New Testament, 1 John v. 1 ; and is there applied to the Father only by a logical process : — " every one that loveth Him that begat." The way in which Ephraem was constantly occupied with doctrinal controversies, sufficiently ex- plains his use of the rarer formula. / " Forgive his trespasses." — The repetition of this prayer in one strophe, is a strong proof that the last line of this hymn is antiphonal. g " Do Thou renew his youth." — Literally, make his old age young again. 48 METRICAL HYMNS OF XVII. dDtt tjjt Dtatjj nf a Bnmim, (Caxox XXXII., torn, vi., p. 289.) Tears are in the eyes, In the ears are sounds of woe, In the mouth is wailing, And sadness in the heart : — Comfort me, oh Lord ! This day separates A woman from her house, And it bows down and falls prostrate," Having lost its order : — Let it be arranged by Thy light ! This day hath clothed This house in mourning, And hung upon its walls Affliction and sadness : — Let Thy consolation give it light ! In the day of her birth she became mortal ; b In her life there was trouble ; The day of her death caused mourning To the company of her friends : — Glory to Him who hath taken her away ! EPHRAEM SYRUS. 49 In the grave which hath swallowed up The dead of all generations, Her body sees corruption, And becomes but dust : — Let Thy resurrection raise her up ! Death hath entered — hath snatched her away, And put her forth from her dwelling, And in the habitation of the tomb Hath deposited her : — Till the day of her rising. Her soul hath gone away, As Thy command hath decreed ; Behold ! she hath become dust, As Thy command hath decreed : c — Lord, make her live anew ! The metre is pentasyllable, in strophes of five verses, the last being antiphonal. (/ •• And it bows down and falls prostrate." — The translator in vain endeavoured to lessen the harshness of this figure, or to deduce any other meaning from the original , > •] *£) | (^H^O. The words would apply to a tent, which in the absence of the mistress might have its pegs loosened and its lines relaxed, but this idea is scarcely reconcilable with historical truth, or with the rest of the poem. Benedict renders the verse, " Domus idcirco totajacet, squalido turpis situ." * " In the day of her birth she became mortal." — Literally, there was death. D 50 METRICAL HYMNS OP c "As Thy command hath decreed." — The reiteration of this verse in the last strophe is an indication of some artistic design, to be developed by the choir. A writer so diffuse as Ephraem would otherwise scarcely have allowed the tautology. EPHRAEM SYRUS. 51 XVIII. dDtt tjp Dtntjj nf ira agefr JEfon. (Canon LXXIV., torn, vi., p. 345.) The only-begotten Son whom thou hast loved From thy youth to thine old age, Will remember thee in Eden, Among the upright and righteous. Thou wast perfect in thy faith, And chaste in thine aspect f Behold thy honourable name is diffused Among us as a sweet odour. 5 Behold thy communion is with the angels, And thy memorial in Paradise ; And with a crown of glory thou art adorned In the heavenly Jerusalem. The voice which called to Lazarus, And to the maid, c the daughter of Jairus, Will call thee and raise thee up, And clothe thee with spotless glory/ This hymn is heptasyllabic, in strophes of four verses. a " Chaste in thine aspect." — 1_ }jj vims, conspectus, has here a much wider significance than any single English word can i) 2 52 METRICAL HYMNS OF convey. It means the appearance of a man presented to others, or the whole course of external conduct. Thus Benedict has well paraphrased it : — " Pudicus ac decorus ubique status, incessus, vul- tus ; or-uli extra omnem petulantia notam." The English word con- versation in the New Testament sense would nearly convey the idea of the Syriac text. * " Sweet odour." — There is no verbal resemblance in this pas- sage to the sentiment of Eccles. vii. 1, as it exists in the Peschito. c " And to the maid." — |A » \ ^ Talitho, appears to be used here as a proper name. In Mark v. 41, where the raising the daughter of Jairus is related, the Syriac word is retained in a manner difficult to account for. May not Talitha have been a proper name among the Jews ? If so, both the peculiarity of Mark and the phraseology of our text are explained. d "Spotless glory." — f-i-2) purus, sincerus ; here it means unmixed, untarnished. Benedict conveys the idea : — " Secretis maJis omnibus, cumulata bonorum complexione munerabitur." EPHRAEM SYRUS. 53 XIX. / «V)> / . » i *^> children of my ministry. Although this phrase is not found in the Lexicons, the translation given is established by the kindred expressions, children of the city for fellow citizens, children of an inheritance for fellow lieirs, &c. It may be seen in Cureton's text of the Festal Letters of Athanasius, page G\D, lines 7 and 14. i> " A companion." — j ;-»,!£> literally a dweller, an inhabitant, if as pointed in the printed text, this is the participle pael, feminine, of 305 hahitavit. But jjj-iflD is a coenobite, from |;_»5 a monastery, and from the way in which Ephraem's style is tinged with mo- nastic ideas, it is probable (j-ijlO is also a coenobite : " Thy soul shall be a coenobite with the holy ;" i.e., shall have a common dwell- ing with them. c " Lord."— «-»^lD mor. — This word, like the Greek Kvpios, is used by the Syrians as a title of respect. It is given especially to persons in high ecclesiastical stations, whether living or dead, and its use here may probably indicate that the hymn is for a departed Bishop, and not a Presbyter ; but this is not certain. On this word. Michaelis, in Castell, has this observation, " «— »jiiO mor, nan nisi orthodoxorum nominibiis prceponant ; Jiereticis, quan- tumvis etiam sint clari et illustres, denegent ;" a fate similar to that which our word Reverend sometimes meets with. d " As each one hath profited." — All the leading words in this strophe are the same as those employed in the passage referred to Matt. xxv. 14. e " The reward of Victory." — In no Lexicon is this rendering given to |/nn] although Schaaf quotes it in 1 Cor. ix. 24, " one obtaineth the prize." Equally clear is this meaning in Phil. iii. 14. " that I may receive the 'prize.' 1 '' f " Which Paul uttered."— See Phil. iii. 14. 56 METRICAL HYMNS OF XX. jlmssiti} for l^arntrim for Dtutjj, (Canon LX., torn, vi., p. 326.) Pity me, oh Father ! in Thy tender mercy, And at Thy tribunal let Thy love be with me ; And make me to rise up from the dust, In the day when Thy standard" shall be revealed. Oh Father ! whose loving-kindness formed me, And who at the first fashioned our image ; b Let Thy nod raise our bodies again, In the day when the world is destroyed. At the appearing of Jesus our King, The buried of all ages shall stand up ; His living voice shall call loudly, And awaken every sleeper \ What terror shall be to all men, When the thrones are set in order ! How will the wicked be confounded, And all be turned into hell ! c The Day of Judgment is at hand And all faults shall be disclosed ; Who then can be pure in Thy sight, In the hour when the books are opened ! EPHRAEM SYRUS. 57 For there are no penitents, Nor offerers of supplications ; For that is the day of doom In which no word nor speech is uttered ! This very solemn production is hexasyllabic ; a metre rarely used by Ephraem Syrus. Asseman says that he employed it, (Bib. Or., i., p. 61 ;) but Hahn had not met with an instance of it. He says, (Bardesanes, p. 45,) " Hexasyllaborum versuum exemplwn hucusque apud Ephraemum nondum reperi, prceter fragmentum Hymni Bardesanitici." But the present is an undoubted instance of the metre. (See also Hymn XXI.) The strophes consist of eight verses, and the structure of the hymn is very perfect. a " Thy standard." — | » * ^ signum, vexillum. It occurs in Matt. xxiv. 30, " Then shall be seen the sign of the Son of Man." (See Homily IV., note a.) b " Fashioned our image." — An evident allusion to Gen. i. 27. On that passage Ephraem says, " By the power and dominion which he received over the earth, and all that it contains, man is the image of God, who rules over all above and all below." An enallage of person is used in this verse, " Father who fashioned," instead of " didst fashion:'' This, and a similar change of other persons and numbers is of common occurrence. Michaelis thus states the case : — " Syri alloquentes in secundd persona, post interveniens vel participium vel pronomen relativum, sermonem aliquando ex secundd in tertiam deflectuntur." c " Hell." — \>Q *. • Sheol. The place of lost souls, more fre- quently designated as Gehennah. » 3 58 METRICAL HYMNS OF XXI. \ om |. The only reference to it in the Lexicons is found in Castell, who renders it figurans, plastes, sculptor, but, as is too often the case, without furnishing any authority. The sense of pretender or imitator, and by implication, that of vain professor, is fixed by this passage in Ephraem, and by one in the Syriac text of the Letters of Athanasius. In page 0"LD, line 15 (Cureton's text) of that work, Athanasius says, " I have sent a copy of a letter that ye may lenow the fraud of these pretenders," ] l AVnnra ] This word is borrowed from the Greek axyjua, adaptations of which are of frequent occurrence in Syriac. c " Shall cry, Lord ! Lord !" — This expression occurs twice in the New Testament, Matt. xxv. 13, and Luke xiii. 25. There is nothing in the text to shew which Ephraem quotes. d " Shall gather together." — See Matt. xxiv. 31 ; Mark xiii. 27 ; in the Peschito. e " Death shall smite thee." — There is here an instance of the change from the first to the second person, to which reference was made in note b, Hymn XX. / " The expanse on high." — The word translated expanse is |iD05 the usual meaning of which is altitudo, sublimitas. But as this would differ but little from the «\s\ on high, which fol- lows, the rendering expanse is given, which is justified by Isa. viii. 8, " The spreading out or expanse (iDO? of his wings." 9 "To announce thy coming."— Literally before thy coming ; i.e., evidently, to make it known. EPHRAEM SYRUS. 0< XXIV. 5i tatting itymn. (Par-exesis LXIV., torn, vi., p. 534.) Oh my loved friends, Ye children of the Church/ Offer up your praise At the season of the dawn : Every morning let us give thanks, And bow down in adoration, To the good Being who hath arranged in order, All the starry lights on high. He hath rolled away the covering From the regions of the earth ; b And caused his light to heam forth On all created things. The bright ray of the morning Waketh up the sleeper. — Let Thy day-spring c Shine upon our hearts. Let Thy glory, O Lord, Be the subject of our song ; d A living treasure In the midst of our souls ; And as Thou hast caused us to come forth 68 METRICAL HYMNS 01-' From the shades of darkness, So deliver us From the place of torment. 6 Nourish in Thy compassion, From Thine own gifts, The children of the Church, Who are dependent on Thee. Let Thy tender pity become An intercessor on our behalf; Thou Lord of the mornings, And of appointed seasons. Lord, let Thy favour Be a companion to us ; And by it may we arrive At Thy great day. Let the right hand of Thy loving-kindness Deal bountifully with us; And by it may we pass over The sea of fire. Thou Just One, who doth 7 recompense Every one according to equity, Exact not from me A rigid reckoning ; Let Thy mercies which accompany me, Be my deliverer, And by Thee may I attain To the haven^ of life. EPHRAEM STRUS. 69 When the appointed scrutiny Shall be by fire, Sprinkle me with Thy dew/ Like the young men in the furnace ; When the flames furiously rage Against those who have done wickedly, Let me be united With Thy holy ones, O Lord ! O Thou precious balsam That can heal all wounds ! Give health to our sores* By the medicine of Thy tender mercies ; And in the society Of Abraham and Isaac And of Jacob, who were upright, Unite Thou me, O Lord ! Let Thy body and Thy blood' Be to me a companion, And by it let me be delivered From the raging flame ; Let Thy cross become The means of passage to all of us/ That we may pass over the abyss Which is full of terror. Behold this our convent™ Calleth upon Thee ; Let us hear Thy voice, 70 METRICAL HYMNS OF u Come ye blessed of my Father ;" Thou lofty One, who art plenteous In pity and loving-kindness, Let Thy mercy raise us up on high In the day of Thy appearing. The high heavens and the earth And all that is therein Shall return thanks with us Because of our conversion." Let praise be to Thee O Father, who art to be adored, And to Thy only Son And to the Holy Ghost ! This hymn is tetrasyllabic, in strophes of eight verses. a "Ye children of the Church." — The word here translated children is not . » i o which would give to the phrase the mean- ing of fellow-members or communicants, but ] _ \ > begotten ones, in allusion to the regeneration which is the portion of Christians. b " From the regions of the earth."— ]Zu_L2> the ends, sides, termini, Sfc. It is of very frequent occurrence, the numeral four being understood. This is supplied in Hymn XXVIII., strophe 1, and XXV., strophe 15. c "Thy day-spring." — | *».Vr>.. In Hebrew and Chaldee nm is to germinate, to bud or spring forth, in reference to vegetation. The application to the rays of the sun, which dart or spring forth from it, is obvious enough. d "The subject of our song."— By., £o|So a homily, theme} but the word is used for metrical compositions. (See Introduction.) EPHRAEM SYRUS. 71 e " The place of torment." — Sy., Gehennah. f " Who doth recompense." — For the enallage of persons see the note b on Hymn XX. As this usus loquendi is harsh when employed in English, it will not always be retained in the trans- lation. 9 "The haven of life." — JV) \\ haven is the Greek \ifjtrrjv, portus. It frequently occurs, but without the olaph J^> \ ; this form, with olaph, is not given in the Lexicons. * " Sprinkle me with Thy dew." — This expression, which in itself is extraordinary, receives light from the song of the three children, from which it is borrowed. In verse 50 of that addition to Daniel, the Syriac version has, " the angel made the furnace |J(-Z> ]«k»o5 w*_»j like a icind of dew ;" i.e., a moist dewy air, beautifully contrasting with the dry scorching nature of the flames of the furnace. The Latin version in Walton's Polyglott is, " quasi ventum roscidum ;" that of Junius is, " tanquam si aer fuisset per- spersus rore." The whole strophe is illustrated by this passage in the history of the three Jewish confessors. The flames consumed their enemies who were near the furnace. So Ephraem prays, that when the wicked are destroyed he may be united with the holy, who, like the three children, are saved from the flames of heU. * " Give health to our sores/'' — A plain allusion to the case of Lazarus, who, although before full of sores, was taken to Abra- ham's bosom. * '• Let Thy body and Thy blood." — See the fuller development of this idea in Hymn XV., strophe 1. I " The means of passage." — See Hymn XXV., strophe 14. m "Our convent." — This sense of |V) i O is not in the Lexi- cons, but may be deduced from the ordinary meanings of the word, / / fcedus, pactum, a covenant, an agreement ; or from the Arabic Jj> in fourth Conjugation, commoratus fuit in loco. The idea exists in a passage quoted by Michaelis, in Castell, (s.v., Snn o) A i n |Vn » D which he renders virgines sacro3, but probably is fellow nuns, the daughters of the convent. It occurs in this sense in the 72 METRICAL HYMNS OF Acta S. Ephraemi, in Assemani Bib. Or., torn, i., p. 47. Benedict translates, " iste fidelium caztus" n " Conversion." — Although this rendering of ]_i_JdS is sanc- tioned by New Testament usage, as when the conversion of the Gentiles is spoken of in Acts xv. 3 ; and although Benedict conveys the idea of a moral reformation, de nostro ad bonam frugem reditu; the translator confesses that he is not satisfied with the word, nor convinced that the idea of religious conversion is that intended to be conveyed by Ephraem. It seems natural enough in our day, for Christians to thank God for their conversion ; but it must be acknowledged that the usus loquendi is not common in the works of Ephraem. Cases may be imagined indeed, which would justify another rendering, more adapted to the style and circumstances of this father. ]_»JQ_S like the Latin reditus may mean an income, annual profit , &,-c; or the brethren of the monas- tery may have had some singular turning event in their history to which allusion is here made ; but perhaps they may have been, like Ephraem himself, heathens in early life. Certainly there is nothing which will harmonize so well with the context, where heaven and earth are called to join them in giving thanks, as the religious conversion of those by whom this Morning Hymn was offered up. EPHRAEM SYRUS. 73 XXV. $tjmtt for tjp (Bunting, (Par.exesis LXV., torn, vi., p. 535.) In the time of evening* Let praise be given to Thee, From the united tongues 6 Of the children of men. Thou hast given the daytime For business and labour, And that we may provide All useful things. Behold all who are oppressed With heavy toil, Return Thee their thanks Because Thou dost give them repose. Who is the being That will not worship Thee, Because Thou carest so much For our humanity ? Thou hast set up the lights of heaven, With appointed seasons in the evening, That Thou mayest reprove him Who is never satisfied, E 74 METRICAL HYMNS OF With the bodily strength Of his fellow creatures, Who labour for him freely Through all the day. To the hungry and thirsty — To those who labour and are fatigued- The evening comes, And sets them at liberty. The season of evening Hath now arrived, And maketh joyful The world and its labourers. But he who is not pitiful Towards his fellows, And he who is avaricious Not being satisfied with his work, — The evening despises him And treats him with contempt/ And his oppressive covetousness Is not satisfied. Blessed be Thy Majesty Who from the beginning, Hast carefully regarded Our human nature. EPHRAEM SYRUS. 75 Who hast appointed a returning To the children of men. And all living creatures In the time of evening. He hath put a seal upon His Church And defendeth her children, From the adversary Satan And from all his hosts. Let Thy cross become A secure passage/ To Thy flock which is redeemed With Thy living blood. Let Thy peace, Lord, be diffused Through the four regions of the earth •/ And let the wicked one flee away From the midst of us. From every tongue Of all animated creatures, And from all places, Let praise ascend. And we together with them, Will ascribe glory To Thee, O Lord, and to the Father, And to the Holv Ghost. 76 METRICAL HYMNS OF This hymn is tetrasyllable, in strophes of four verses. ° " In tlie time of evening." — Sy., in all evenings. * " From the united tongues." — Sy.,from all the months. c " Treats him with contempt." — «^*01Q^>]^ 0"L^ %Oh spits in his face, a strong orientalism, indicating the unceremonious manner in which the covetous man, who wishes the evening would not arrive, is treated by its steady and inevitable approach. The Latin printed text avoids the prosopopaiia, and translates " rapa- cissimis illis — vix dici potest quam ingratus accidat et molestus." d " A secure passage." — See Hymn XXIV., note b. <" ''The four regions of the earth." — See Hymn XXIV., note I. EPHRAEM SYRUS. 77 XXVI. 3$tjtrot far (Rater, (Cakoh XL VIII., torn, vi., p. 303.) Blessed be the Messiah Who hath given us a hope, That the dead shall live again ; And hath assured our race, That when it has suffered dissolution, It shall be renewed. Listen, O mortal men, To the mystery of the resurrection ; Which was once concealed ; Behold, it is now proclaimed abroad, In this latter age, In the holy Church. For Jesus then became A sojourner with death For the space of three days, And set at liberty his captives f And laid waste his encampment, And returned the spoils to our race. For before that time Death by this was made arrogant, And boasted himself of it — 78 METRICAL HYMNS OF 11 Behold, priests and kings Lie bonnd by me, In the midst of my prisons [" A mighty war Came without warning Against the tyrant Death ; And, as a robber, The shouts of the foe overtook him, And humbled his glory. The dead perceived A sweet savour of life, 6 In the midst of Hades ; And they began to spread the glad tidings Among one another, That their hope was accomplished. From the beginning of the ivorlcl, Death had dominion Over mortal men ; Until there arose The Mighty One And abolished his pride. His voice then came Like heavy thunder On mortal men ; And he proclaimed the glad tidings, That they were set at liberty From their bondage. EPHRAEM SYRUS. 79 The metre is tetrasyllabic, in strophes of six verses. It has no title in the printed text, being one of the general Canons ; it is called a " Hymn for Easter," from internal evidence. a " Liberated his captives." — Sy., snatched away his captivity. The allusion is to Eph. iv. 8. " He received gifts for men."' in that text, is also the foundation of the last verse. " lie returned the spoils to our raa l •• A sweet savour of life." — (See Hymn XIII., strophe 1.) The expression is taken from 2 Cor. ii. 16, " a savour of life." Michaelis, in Castell (*.«?., (_kk_»5) says that odor vitee is put ^wo medicamine efficacissimo in the Epistle to the Corinthians. The Syriac writer of the Life of Ephraem, which is printed by Asseman, (Bibliotheca Orientalis, torn, i., p. 54,) uses the phrase in a way which pro- bably that father would not have recognized : for he says that when the bones of Ephraem were removed from one sepulchre to another. " a sweet savour of life exhaled from them, and imparted life and gladness to cdl believers." 80 METRICAL HYMNS OF XXVII. Mm retiring tn tot (Pae^enesis XXX., torn, -si., p. 480.) Grant, Lord, that if I keep my vigils, I may stand in purity before Thee ; And if, oh my Saviour, I slumber, Let my sleep be free from sin. If in my watching I commit iniquity, Oh Lord by Thy grace forgive me ; If I sin when sleeping, Let Thy kindness be my expiation. And through the cross of Thy humiliation, Afford me refreshing slumber ; And deliver me from disturbing dreams, And from profane imaginations ; And in sleep full of peace, Let all the night conduct me ; Let not evil beings have dominion over me, Nor thoughts full of iniquity. And from hateful concupiscence deliver me Through Thy living body which I have eaten ; And I will lie down and sleep in peace. And let Thy blood be a protector to me : — EPHRAEM SYRUS. 81 And to the soul which is Thy production Grant the freedom of Thy likeness f And let Thy right hand watch over The body which Thy hands have formed. Let the wall of Thy mercy encompass me Like a buckler of defence ; And when my body is still, and slumbers, Let Thy kindness be its guard. Let not the Evil One approach my couch, Thro' the supplication of the mother who bare Thee j And by Thy sacrifice 6 on behalf of all men, Put Satan to flight that he persecute me not. And, Lord, perform Thy promise to me, And protect my life by Thy cross ; And when I awake I will praise Thee, Because Thou hast displayed Thy love to my lowliness. From the sleepers, satisfied with rest, And the watchers who have put on their arms, Be glory to Thee, Thou guardian Spirit ! c Who hast made me a watcher for Thy praise ! This hymn is heptasyllabic, in strophes of eight verses. « " The freedom of Thy likeness." — ^V)\ . ? pOi-*-» probably refers to Rom. viii. 21, " the glorious liberty of the sons of God.'' in conjunction with Gen. i. 26. & " And by Thy sacrifice." — That no reliance can be placed on the Latin translation of these hymns will appear from the render- E 3 82 METRICAL HYMNS OF ing of this simple and scriptural expression, " Et ob momentum ac salutiferum illud sacrificium, quod pro omnibus JEterno Patri in ard Cruris sanctissimd obtulisti!" c " Thou guardian Spirit!" — The Syriac j; i S from j. lS exper- gefecit, is much used by ecclesiastical writers for the guardian spirits, supposed to watch over good men. The phrase here is, Thou living watcher, to distinguish Chi'ist from the speaker. \\ii<> applies the term jj-i-L to himself in the last verse. EPHRAEM SYRUS. 83 XXYIII. 9ypm for tip twftfx Dmj. (Par^xesis XLL, torn, vi., p. 499.) Glory be to the Good Who hath honoured and exalted The first day of the week, In the four regions of the world ; In the beginning* this day, Was before the others, In which were set in order, The heavens and the earth. On this our Lord arose, From the midst of the sepulchre, With power and might, And the strength of a giant ; And on it the holy Church, Adorns herself With illustrious priests Who minister to her. On this day will appear, The Lord, at the end of all things, ^ Riding on a chariot, Of burning flame ; 84 METRICAL HYMNS OF The King of Majesty, Will quickly come down, From His divine habitation. The King Messiah, Will direct his way, To the hill of Jabes, Which is Jerusalem. He will set up His cross On the tomb of Adam, Where the Jews of old Also set it up. He will shout with His voice, And the rocks will be rent, And the dead will rise up, From their burial places. Again the earth shall be Without form and void/ As was once its state, At the beginning of all tilings. r And the King shall command His mighty hosts, Concerning penalties, And concerning rewards/ And they shall collect together The dust of Adam," In the twinkling of an eye. — From all regions, They shall come to judgment. EPHRAEM SYRUS. 85 And to a strict scrutiny ; And to render a reckoning, And to a public trial/ And He will call the righteous Into the Kingdom, But send the wicked Into the midst of Gehennah ! The wicked in their actions, Will then resemble, An eye which is blind, In which there is no light. They approach, they knock, They intreat, they weep, — " Lord ! Lord ! open^ Thy door to us !" And He shall say to them, " Depart, ye cursed, For I know not Who ye are \" In that hour, When all tribes of men, Shall stand in need Of the forgiveness of sins ; We earnestly supplicate This of Thee, oh Lord, 86 METRICAL HYMNS OF That Thy mercy may abound Towards our offences. This world quickly Shall pass away, And its beauty be destroyed With all that is in it. Awake my beloved ! And pray and intreat, While there remains A place for repentance : — h Before the Angel of Death Shall overtake us And we are removed From the present world : — Let us be steadfast Every morning. — To thee be glory O Thou great in mercy ! To the Father and to the Son And to the Holy Ghost, Let us offer up praise At all seasons ! Thai this hymn was intended to be used on the Lord's day i^ plain from the first Strophe. The metre is tet ras\ llahie. It will be Been thai the strophes are most unequally divided, without any EPHRAEM SYRUS. 87 principle being apparent as the foundation of the arrangement. The division of the printed copy has been followed in preference to any conjectural emendation. Even if the whole hymn were divided into strophes of eight lines, like the two first, the dif- ficulty would be increased, since the sense would then be more violated than an artificial harmony of the parts now is. a "In the beginning/' — The Syriac text of Genesis is here alluded to, for Z i ■ >^£D the word employed there and here, is not the usual expression for beginning. Thus in strophe 5, |_»5q_» the more common term, is used. b " "Without form and void." — An exact copy of the words of Gen. i. 2, both in the Hebrew and the Peschito. Unless we imagine that Ephraem could read Hebrew, the Syriac version then in use was the same in this passage as our present copies. c " At the beginning of all things.'' — From the very different genius of the two languages, it is impossible, without an offensive boldness, to translate from the Syriac into English, unless supple- mental words are occasionally introduced, as in this instance. In the original there is an uniform number of syllables in each verse, and while it is not practicable to imitate this in a trans- lation, it is thought more advisable to come somewhat near it by filling up of ellipses, than by retaining the extreme terseness of the Syriac. d •■ And concerning rewards." — The word rendered rewards is J 1 . Vn m . the common meanings of which are, actio, factum, facinu8, opus, res gesta, not one of which conveys the idea of reward, nor do the Lexicons hint at such a meaning. The text, however, seems to require such a contrast to *}/ \ V«~v 7 ri, , dicta, penal- i the Latin translator thought, who has, " ut par em improbis pcenam, justis autem praimium et coronam reddant immarescibilem." Until the sense of reward is confirmed by other instances, the Arabic (J uw fourth conjugation, pretium constituit, he fixed a price, may be quoted. « " The dust of Adam.** — Meaning the whole human race; Adam 88 METRICAL HYMNS OF in Hebrew being not only a proper name, but also an appellative, designating the genus. / u A public trial." — |o oo V an investigation. But something different from mere scrutiny, spoken of before, must be intended. Castell speaks of a " per scrutatio publico:, quce post p>rivatam illam, cle cpia 1 Cor. xi. 28, in usu erat apud Syros." 9 "Lord! Lord! open." — See note c, Hymn XXIII. /' " A place for repentance." — An allusion to Heb. xii. 17. EPHRAEM SYRUS. 89 XXIX. 1 $t}ttra nf tjp mljnk CJrtirrJr- (Pae^nesis LXX., torn, vi., p. 540.) Oh Jesus, our Lord, King worthy of adoration, Who overcame by His passion The tyrant Death ! Oh Thou Son of God, Who hast promised to us A renewed life, And an exalted kingdom f — Turn away from us All hurtful things, And cause to dwell in our habitation 6 Peace and kindness ; That in the day of Thy advent We may go forth to meet Thee ; And may appear in Thy sight According to Thy will. By loud Hosannahs We will give thanks to Thy name, In return for Thy favour Towards our race; For Thy tender mercies have been abundant On behalf of our mortal state ; 90 METRICAL HYMNS OF And Thy love has been powerful Towards our souls. And blot out our sins By Thy propitiation, That we may praise Thy name, Because of Thy great goodness. Oh Lord, through Thy grace Make us all worthy, To give thanks and to worship Thy Divinity. Let our eyes which have seen Thy glory in this world, Contemplate Thy favour In that which is to come. Our ears which have listened To the voice of Thy instructions, Let them not hear, oh Lord, The sounds of torment ! Our mouths which have sung hallelujahs In the midst of the churches, Make them worthy To hymn forth Thy praise. And our tongues also Which have shouted out, " Holy !" Do Thou direct rightly, For Thy glory. Our ] lands which have carried'' Thy body and blood, EPHRAEM SYRUS. 91 Let them receive from Thee The forgiveness of our trespasses. Our feet which have trodden Thy holy temple, Cause them to walk In the region of felicity. And our congregation Which adores Thy Divinity, Multiply towards it All saving blessings ; And make to abide among us Thy great tenderness, And through it may we abound In returning praise to Thee. And open Thy door To our united supplication, And let our service also Come into Thy presence. And let good be turned to us, According to Thy tender mercies ; But cause to pass away from us All things which are hurtful. And without intermission We will offer praise To Thee, oh Lord, and to Thy Father, And to the Holy Ghost ! The title of tins hymn lias been given to it on the authority of internal evidence. Like the former one, the arrangement is very 92 METRICAL HYMNS OF arbitrary, and there can be little doubt that the divisions of the printed copy are those of a transcriber who neglected to observe the metrical style of the composition. There are altogether seventy-six verses : and if we might presume to give eight to a strophe, harmony would be restored. There would then be nine strophes, with a doxology of four verses at the close. The metre is tetrasyllabic. « " And an exalted kingdom." — The reference appears to be to Matt. xix. 28, combined with Luke xxii. 29. In the text f » » ■* 12.,-k» a new life, may be the translation of the Greek 7ra\i~»»_»1 gestarit, trircumtut&t; Castell also gives the mean- ings extidit, celcbravit. The Latin translator, with every wish to favour his own subjective views, has tractartmt. He is guilty here, however, of singular unfaithfulness to the text. The Syriac is, undoubtedly, u our hands which haw handled (or lifted up, or celebrated) Thy body and blood;" while he translates, " Ma mis. qua sacrosanctum Tuum Corpus persape tractarunt, db vmpuritafo, L) jAdO which, were it not for the reduplication of the *£2 would be filia oculi, like the Hebrew; nor can it be doubted that the same figure is inherent in the expression, however difficult it may be to ac- count for the difference of orthography. But Michaelis says (in Castell, s. v.), proprie est porta (Arab. Ijlj) oculorum ; a deriva- tion requiring as great an orthographical variation as the more common one. b '• My Protector/' — The text reads ^»Z.5Q-£j custodia tua, which is conjecturally altered to *-*Z.5Q_^J custodia mea, without which emendation it is difficult to make sense of the passage. c "That it look not stealthily."— AJ|m ... As the radical meaning of «^LL-. is latus, the side, the word might admit the idea of the eye being directed out of the straight course, i. e., to forbidden things. But a stealthy, conscious hole, characterizes one who allows himself to contemplate things which he knows are evil and pro- hibited. d " Vile sayings."" — ]/ m . o literally vUenesses. But the men- tion of the lips as the cause, in the previous verse demands some such version as is here given. e " Hate all the world." — As our phrase, cdl the world, like the French, tout le monde, means every body, it is necessary to say that Ephraem uses it here as it is -employed in the New Testament for the pleasures, fashions, and principles of this present life, among worldly men. • / '-The mind, the soul.*' — (JOV> \ to depart. Hence in Aplud, to cause to depart^ dismiss, bidfareweU to. It is more com- mon in Chaldee, EPHRAEM SYRUS. 109 « •' Wandered." — Sy., flew, like a bird. / " Who was lord of all."— Does this refer to Noah or to the Almighty? Benedict translates, li Xavis Domini;"' Morris, " The ship of the Lord of all." Now there is no way of determining this but a consideration of the context. The words, « N*"? | ilJD, lord or master of all, well describe the position of Noah sailing above a drowned world. The ark alone is here spoken of; that which it typified, the Church, is not yet introduced, and there is greater propriety in the application of the expression to the patriarch than to God. 9 " And reached unto the north." — A «... ^ Vn measured, and thence, like the Latin metior, passed over to. h " In its course it described;" that is, by going from east to west, and then from south to north, it drew as it were upon the waters the figure of a cross. The words, standard, cross, and helm, refer to one object. * " The threefold Name." — Moms renders, " TJie name of the Trinity," which is not literal. Benedict has, " Ac triplieLs nominis virtute.'' 1 k " In the form of the dove." — ^2L_l>-» is of constant use in Syriac and has various meanings. Yet the only notice of it in Castell is, i. q. Chaldee *pn pro. Schaaf gives as its meanings, pro, loco, sub, vice, propter, pro, neither of which suits this passage. Hahn has, quasi, instar, quoting as his authorities this place and another in Hymn XV., adv. Scrutatores, torn, vi., p. 30, strophe 11, where Ephraem says, " Let no man unsheath his tongue like . g^\ .. > a sword." I " Her." — Although the Ark and the Church are of the same gender in Syriac, the feminine has been used here to distinguish the latter more clearly. »« " And the mystery." — Both Benedict and Moms render |] |5 by sacrament ; which has been avoided here as involving a petitio principii. Morris translates the last verse but one of this strophe, u the sacrament of the redemption by her ;" a sense foreign to the text. n " The oW Covenant." — |A_»5o| is of common occurrence, 110 METRICAL HYMNS, ETC. signifying, first, Genesis; then, the Pentateuch ; and, as probably here, the whole of the Old Testament. Of its etymology the Lexi- cons say nothing. o " So were made empty." — Having accomplished their object, they were emptied, were no longer the depositories of precious things. P " Having embarked upon the flood." — For the word embarked, the translator is indebted to Mr. Morris. The Syriac is %°) \\, to which no such meaning is given in the Lexicons. It generally signifies didicit, and in Pael, docuit. But ]<^ x\ is a ship, and therefore the idea of embarking or sailing may be presumed to reside in the root ; or a verb may be formed from the noun. a " The daring."— Sy., |lll£0, the foolish. But this cannot be understood literally, as it refers to deep and rash investigations of divine mysteries. Benedict translates, temere ingn Wtttfml &milw EPHRAEM SYRUS. " EPHRAEM, A DEACON OF THE CHURCH AT EDESSA, WROTE MUCH IX THE SYRIAN LANGUAGE, AND ATTAINED TO SUCH RENOWN, THAT IN SOME CHURCHES, AFTER THE READING OF THE SCRIPTURES, HIS WRITINGS ARE PUBLICLY RECITED."— St. Jerome. " ST. EPHRAEM WAS THE AROUSER OF THE SLOTHFUL, THE CONSOLER OF THE AFFLICTED, THE INSTRUCTOR OF THE YOUNG, THE GUIDE OF THE PENITENT; AN ARROW AND JAVELIN AGAINST HERETICS, A DEPOSITORY OF VIRTUES, AND A HABITATION AND RESTING-PLACE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT."— £«. ChrysOStom. METEICAL HOMILIES frarriiitina nf ^aroMat THE REVELATIONS OF GOD ADAPTED TO MAN'S INTELLECT. (De Pabadiso Edex, XL, torn, vi., p. 595.) The air of Paradise Is a fountain of sweetness, From which, in early life, Adam inhaled nutriment f And the inspiration was to his youth Like the ministering breast of a mother. He was young, fair, and joyful : — But having spurned the commandment, He became unhappy, old, and fading, Bearing the weight of years And a load of miseries ! 114 METRICAL HOMILIES OF No blighting frost s, No withering heats/ Are in that region Of blessedness and joy. It is a haven of gladness, A home c of delights, — Light and merriment reside within it : — There is a congregation of harpers, A society of players on the lute/ The sound of Hosannahs, A Church of Hallelujahs \ e The fence which surrounds it, Is the safety which makes all tranquil ; Its wall and its precincts/ Is the peace which unites all together j The cherub which walks around it Is gentle to those within, But threatening to those without, who are reprobate. Concerning this Paradise, Which is pure and holy, The report which thou nearest Is true and spirituals Let not its nature* be judged From what is heard of it, For its descriptions 7 ' do not altogether Coinc within our judgment ; For although, by the names given to it, It may seem to be earthly, EPHRAEM SYRUS. 115 In reality' that pure place is spiritual : — For even the names of spirits* Are common to both kinds ; Yet that which is impure Is far different from the holy. For in no other manner Is it possible for a speaker, But by the names of things Which are well known, To form descriptions' Like things which are obscure ; For if He who is the Creator of the Garden Had not shrouded its magnificence, In words which are vernacular to us/' How could He have represented His garden, in our dark speeches ? For if among the names Which are borrowed by the Divine Majesty, A man should wander and be ensnared, — He profanes and injures It, By means of those borrowed terms Which It put on for his benefit ; And spurns the grace which bowed down Its lofty height to his childish stature. For he having no natural affinity with It, It clothed Itself with things like to him, To cause him to attain to Its likeness.'' 116 METRICAL HOMILIES OF Let not then thy intellect Be disturbed by these accidental names ;Q For Paradise is represented 7 " In terms which are vernacular to thee ; It is not indigent, Because it is clothed with things like to thee : — Thy nature rather is very imbecile, Which is not able to attain to its greatness. Insipid would be its beauties, Were it depicted in the colours/ Which are natural to thee ! For eyes which are feeble, Have not sufficient power To contemplate the bright rays Of its celestial beauties. He hath clothed its trees With the names of our trees, And its figs are called by the names of our figs ; And its leaves which are spiritual Are realized* and embodied ; They are transformed, that their vesture May resemble the vesture of earthly things. The flowers of that country Arc more numerous and brilliant, Than the starry lights Of this visible heaven ; And a fragrance proceeds from it, EPHRAEM SYRUS. 117 Borne along in its gracious influence, Like a physician sent to the maladies Of a land which is cursed : — By its healing odour" Curing the distemper, "Which entered by the serpent. By the gale which blows From the blessed region of Paradise, Sweetness is communicated To the bitterness of this region j This renders ineffective* 7 The curse of our earth. The Garden is thus the vital breath Of this diseased world ; And dwelling among the sickly, It proclaims that a living balsam Is sent to our mortality. Thus when the blessed Apostles Were assembled together, The place was moved, And there was a sweet savour of Paradise ; Which stirred up its repositories, And caused its perfumes to flow forth : — It diffused its odours on the messengers, By whom men were to be made disciples, And come as guests to the feast. Thus it seemed good to the high Majesty 2 Of Him who loved the children of men. 118 METRICAL HOMILIES OF This piece and the following one are taken from twelve homilies, De Paradiso Eden, which are printed in the sixth volume of the works of Ephraem. In his catalogue of the writings of this father, Asseman mentions fifteen hymns on this subject, but this appears to be the result of a different arrangement of MSS. They form one continued poem, the character of which may be gathered from the two last, which are here translated. The whole are sub- jected to the same metrical construction. The strophes consist of eleven verses, all pentasyllabic except the seventh, which is of a longer measure, but not always the same. A striking effect is thus produced, which is retained, as far as practicable, in the translation. a " Inhaled nutriment."— Sy., loOl if) 1 », Bucked, as a child at the breast. & " No blighting frosts, no withering heats." — Literally, cold of injuries, and heat of blastings or burnings. c " A home of delights." — The Syriac word rendered " home'' 1 is ]^Q_*, a returning, place of returning ; used of the goal, mark, &c, which ends a race. See Hymn XXV., strophe 12. d " Players on the lute." — Literally, a congregation of harps, of lutes, by a bold metonymy. e " A Church of Hallelujahs." — Perhaps these two verses should have been translated, those icho sing Hosannahs, &c. But the figure has been retained, to convey an idea of the abrupt and startling style of the original. / " Its wall and its precincts."— Sy., Ol5o_» ;^0 Ol5o_», its icall and the son of its vail, the anh morale ; " muros ct ponue- ria," as the Latin translator renders it. 9 " Is true and spiritual." — The four last verses of this strophe must be considered as introducing the principal topic of the hymn : the use, namely, to be made of figurative representations of divine things; and in a prose composition would be joined with the next sentence. The Latin translator does so, but this course is pro- hibited by the very artificial character of the strophes of this homily. EPHRAEM SYRUS. 119 h " Its nature.'" — CTLO;_», & history, description, its true con- dition, as it would be described by an adequate historian. " Its descriptions ;" i. e., its true representations, are beyond mortal power. The Latin translator has, " qua mortcdis judicis cognitioni non sabsunt." » " In reality/' — ra \ » »■ »- *"\ in its power ; potentia, facidtas. k " For even the names of spirits." — The argument is, that two things essentially different in many respects may have the same terminology on account of some points of resemblance, as the Paradise described hi human language, and the Paradise of heaven. Evil and good spirits are designated alike (a^»05 as to their generic idea, but are vastly unlike in their properties. The Latin translator loses sight of the illustration, and merely gives the fact it teaches. — " Voeobulo quidem utrique paradiso communia sunt: at tu sacrum a profo.no excernito." I " To form descriptions." — |_LQlO_» 3 hearings, in the passive sense ; descriptions conveyed to others by the ear. » '-Words vernacular to us." — Words t?Z| «_»_JLO, the chil- dren of our place. » "Our dark speeches." — .Z(j£), out enigma.-;, parablei in our language so ill adapted for a clear representation of what Paradise really is. o "His childish stature." — Sy., 01— C; HiN, to his state of boyhood. I' " To its likeness." — The Syriac is very concise : — It put on things like to him (man), that if /night lead him to tilings like to it (the divine Majesty). q " Accidental names." — ] .inn cognomina, surnames. r " Paradise is represented." — Literally, Paradise is clothed in. names, the children of thy race. i " Were it depicted in the colours." — The word translated " colours" is (.l!nVQ£D 5 from a root not often found in Syriac, at least in the existing Lexicons. In Aphel, ^CICC)], it signifies, pharmacwn, venerium pradju.it; and ] i Vn(nm is generally ren- dered pharmaca. But Hahn, in his Lexicon to his Chrestomathy 120 METRICAL HOMILIES OF has given the meaning, " colores, et scepe rationales colores quibus efficitur descriptio ;" which is the exact meaning of the word in the text. It will be interesting to quote two passages from Ephraem, by which this view is confirmed. They are both from Hymn XXXIII., Adversus Scrutatores (torn, vi., p. 59). The first is in strophe 4 : — 'j- 1 *^ ^~'« V[ If then for painters \0;_> j-35 l-l^i» it is difficult to represent ] iVi(nmn 1^»o5 V Spirit in colours. The second illustration is near the close : — J i VnVnm ;-»—• |01 For behold the colours m v ^7 \ n 11V\Vn O f tne intellect of every mind •j i . ii Do not come near to the Son. t " Are realized."— Sy., 0,-^jiZl, are seized, laid hold of. That which is in itself spiritual is grasped and confined in a bodily form. v " By its healing odour."— Sy., by the odour of its healings. v> "This renders ineffectual."— 01 n °1 V>, from (TLQ2), infa- tuatus, insipidus factus est ; to deprive anything of its inherent qualities, render ineffective. See Matt. v. 13, where the word is used of salt having lost its savour. * " The high Majesty." — ]Vr>\v a plural emphatic from . Av elevatus est. So at least the translator is disposed to con- sider the word, for it is not found in the Lexicons. In the small space of this homily, the lexicographer may glean large materials for his operations. EPHRAEM SYRUS. 121 II. €\)t fitlittlfij nf $akn. HE IS DEFEATED BY THE REDEEMER. (De Paradiso Edex, XII., torn, vi., p. 597.^ Count me worthy in Thy goodness To attain to Thy gift f A depositary of sweet ointments, A treasury of choice perfumes ; Delicately satisfying my hunger With the scent of its spices. In every age its odour hath nourished all men ; And whoever inhales it, Luxuriates in it, unmindful of his food : — This is a royal table, Blessed is He who hath prepared it in Eden ! Something sprung up 6 within me, And troubled me as I investigated it; And I was desirous of making enquiry, Yet feared to be presumptuous. But as he who knew me Understood my thoughts, He clothed the question most skilfully. c And from that I confided in him, Respecting all he said to me ; For he took and fashioned for me That which I wished, in his own words. 122 METRICAL HOMILIES OF In this manner the Serpent Persuaded Adam to transgress, By his web of falsehood.** For he attentively listened To the truth of hidden mysteries. And learned it, and appeared to be wise. A voice called to Adam and warned him, From the tree of the knowledge Of good and of evil ; That crafty one heard the voice, And fixed upon e it an interpretation. For he subtilly deceived the husbandman, To pluck immaturely The fruit which in full season Would have produced its sweetness : But that fruit, being out of season, Was bitter to the gatherer. He interwove the truth with craftiness ; d For he knew that the result Would be different to the presumptuous ones. For a blessing, by sinful actions, Becomes a curse to the receiver of it. For remember that king Uzziah/ Who entered the holy place, And hastily took the priest's office, Lost the kingdom. Adam, intending to enrich himself, Incurred a double loss. EFHRAEM SYRTTS. 123 See, as in a type/ the tree in the sanctuary. And the fruit in the censer, The sense of nakedness in the leprosy : — From two diverse sources Ruin proceeded to both of them. Then there came another champion, Who was free from guilt ; And He put on the armour 7 * In which Adam had been conquered. And when the enemy saw The arms of the defaulter, He was glad and perceived not that He was concealed Within, who was an object of terror to him. That which was external gave him confidence : — The Evil One came to conquer, But was desperately vanquished ! There were two trees Placed by God in Paradise ; The one the tree of life, The other of great knowledge ;* These were twin fountains, Blessed with all benefits. — By these two glorious things Man is able to become The likeness of God : — By a life without death, And by knowledge without error ! g2 124 METRICAL HOMILIES OF This piece must be read in connection -with the former one, from which it receives some illustration. Both indeed should he studied in their place in the whole production of which they form but a small part, in order that their beauty and meaning may be fully understood. The observations on the metre of the former homily apply to this. a " To attain to Thy gift." — That is, of the Spirit spoken of as proceeding from Paradise, in the former homily. b " Something sprung up within me." — «JiJQJ, scaturivit. The same figure, expressive of mental conception, is employed in Hebrew; iLTn ebidlivit, scaturivit, is used in Psalm xlv. 1, ll My heart conceives (bubbles up) a good matter." "Most skilfully." — Sy., "JAIQILkkID u'ith knowledges, an emphatic plural. It is plain that this strophe has no connection with the former one, which obviously coheres with the previous homily. Asseman states (Bibliotheca Or., torn, i., p. 84) that in one MS. the whole piece, De Paradiso Eden, is without divisions, which explains this want of connection ; the arbitrary arrangements of transcribers having been a fruitful source of confusion in all branches of lite- rature. The translator confesses that while the general sentiment of tins whole composition is easy to be understood, this second Strophe has presented difficulties which he has not solved to his own satisfaction. For example :— to whom does the pronoun refer in the sentence, "as he ivho hneio me?" Is it a general propo- sition which is here stated, or is it a special case ? The argument is, that Satan acted in his dealings with Adam and Eve, in the same manner as Ephraem had been treated in a case of doubt and difficulty. But who was it that thoroughly understood him, and gave a distinct form to the obscure subject of his reflections? The Latin translator has:—" Quod ille mece inspector mentis com- periens, quwstionem mild natam scite vestivit et explicvdt." d " By his web of falsehood." — " He interwove the truth with craftiness." The Syriac root in both these sentences is A^O, the meaning of which is thus stated by Castell :— " Mentitus est, EPHRAEM SYRUS. 125 decepit, fefellit, dolose egit." Now the Hebrew Im, according to Gesenius is, " Texit, obduxit, wide etiam tecte egit, fefellit.''' This idea of weaving, plaiting, or contorting, is attached to the words in the text, as admirably expressive of the devices of Satan. e " And fixed upon it."— Sy., ]o mn ch\ 0105510, and fol- lowed it out to an interpretation. f " King Uzziah." — See 2 Chron. xxvi. 16. 9 " See as in a type." — Sy., 0\-^». This sense of \\^t is pointed out and illustrated by "Wiseman in his Horce Syriacce, p. 49. In his Comment on Exodus, chap, xxxvii. 10, 11, Ephraem says of the ornaments of the table in the sanctuary: — " There were crowns on the table, in which ice typicalhj behold ( v 1 >V»k») the upper and the lower world:" 1 * " And he put on the armour." — The armour in which man had been defeated was the flesh : — Christ took this upon Him, that by His death He might procure salvation and defeat the devil. This is the doctrine stated in Heb. ii. 14. * " Of great knowledge." — Sy., of knowledges ; — an emphatic plural. 126 METRICAL HOMILIES OF III. fit ClmtttL ON THE TREATMENT OF DIVINE MYSTERIES IN- PUBLIC TEACHING. (Advebsus Scrutatores, XXIII., torn, vi., p. 40.) Speak, oh harp/ 4 For silence is thine enemy ! Speak therefore whatsoever Is lawful to be uttered ; For every other matter Which is not proper, If it is spoken, Is blasphemy to the righteous. He is allied with the infidel Who presumptuously investigates; 4 At the threshold 6 " of death Standeth that daring one, Who hath laid aside His faith with his research, To descend to fathom The sea of hidden mysteries. Wonder not, oh youth, At the things I have said to you ; But take their dimensions With due discrimination. EPHRAEM SYRUS. 127 For the former denieth The Divinity itself; And the latter investigates, That he may dishonour God. The Almighty in His nature Is more exalted than all things ; Behold, by His name, Lord of All, He is greater than all ! Who then is so mighty In intellectual power, As to hold and measure' 7 The ocean of wisdom ? e Purify the harp Of thy spirit from contention ; Let it not play to thee of thyself, For self-conceit is deadly : Let it not whisper^ to thee Even of vain glory In its melodies, For that is entire ruin.^ Make harmonious the numbers Which by research have become discordant ; h CalT back the notes Which have wandered through investigation. Place thyself, my son, Before the Divinity, 128 METRICAL HOMILIES OE And then ntter psalms To the glory of God. Because thou art a harp, Thou art animated and eloquent ; There is freedom in thy numbers And in thy songs. Oh happy lyre I* Which of its own accord, As of its free will, Sings praises to God ! Put then thy soul in tune, And sing harmoniously ; Make thy notes distinct/ And play to us what is not mysterious ;' Be thou the disciple Of all things which are revealed ; And without trepidation, Let thy utterances be becoming. Weigh therefore thy words, Let thy speech be unblameable ; Weigh them again and sing songs, Which cannot be complained of; Let thy performance Be pleasant, my son, To the servants of thy Lord, And thy Lord will reward thee. EPHRAEM SYRUS. 129 Utter not then in thy songs What is injurious to man, Divide not by disputation Brethren who are united together. Place not a sword (Which captious enquiry is) Between the upright, Who have sincerely believed." Sing not, therefore, What is derogatory to God, Instead of His praise ; Lest thou err and sing folly. Sing like David did To the Son of David, And call Him Lord and Son As David did. Dishonour not through one another, The Father and the Son \ Sing not then to the Father That which is reproachful to the Son ; Lest thou also, on the other hand, Shouldst sing to the Son What is dishonourable to His Father. By saying? that He is not truly the Father.? That the Father takes precedence Is without controversy ; g 3 130 METRICAL HOMILIES OF That the Son is second Admits not of dispute ; And the name of the Spirit Stands the third. See thou disturbest not The order of the Names. Make disciples,, it is said/ and baptize In the three Names ; In the name of the Father, And of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. For the name of the Son Cannot precede The name of the Father, Lest there be confusion. But in what manner this exists Is buried in silence ; Far away from that silence Do thou utter praise. Let not thy tongue be A bridge of words, For the passage to and fro* Of all kinds of communications. Offer praise to Him As the tithes of thy songs ; Present to Him as a sacrifice A sheaf of thy mind's productions ;' EPHRAEM SYRUS. 131 Make thy praise ripe/' And offer unto Him Of the clusters of grapes* Which thy tongue hath gathered. This homily is composed in a metre which is common to many of the discourses to which it belongs. Each strophe contains eight verses, of various lengths, as indicated by the following figures : 5656444 5. Of these the first two and last four are uniformly regular, but the third and fourth are not so : it is indeed doubtful from the irregular division of these verses, whether they ought not to be considered as one verse of eleven syllables. a " Speak, oh harp." — The bold prosopopoeia which distinguishes this homily, is employed also in the two previous ones in the Roman edition, the three being thus identified in style and sub ject. Homily XXI. begins, " Play, Lord, upon my Twerp." In the ninth strophe Ephraem exhorts himself and others in thi^ way: — " harp, deceive not thy hearers, be not double-faced in thy song." At the close he says : — " Let Thy Church be a harp to Thy praise; upon it may we sing of peace, truth, and concord.'' 1 In Homily XXII. Ave find this commencement. " Praise the Al- mighty, who tuned for Himself two lyres, of prophets and apostles." 1 It thus appears that the figure having been suggested to Ephraem. lie luxuriates in it and applies it in various ways. In this homily its use is more precise and exact, the harp all through signifying one whose duty it is to teach others ; and on this ac- count the title, " Ad Clerum," has been given to it. May not this piece have been used at the ordination of priests? or was there any other occasion when such an exhortation was addressed to the younger clergy by a superior? ?> " "Who presumptuously investigates." — The prominence given in these writings to men called, in the Latin, Scrutatores. makes it important to ascertain what class of men they were by whom the peace of the orthodox was so much disturbed in the days of Ephraem. Their principal designations are the 132 METRICAL HOMILIES OF following : — I. ]_iO^O is the name given them in the title to the homilies. It is from |*^, exquisivit, investigavit, scrutatus est, to search for something lost; as for Laban's images, Gen. xxxi. 35; and for Joseph's cup, Gen. xliv. 12. II. |_»05), from k_»55 = Heb., xcrn, trivit, calcavit, trituravit, disputavit, inquisivit. As, Mark ix. 16, our Lord enquires, " What are ye disputing with them V Acts vi. 9 : " Certain of the synagogue disputed with Stephen." 1 This appellation indicates the development in public of the curious prying indulged in private. III. (^ClLID, ^ ie P ar ~ ticiple Aphel of »*^QV — ^ according to the etymology (j^OS the heel, footstep), indicates a still more subtil and insidious mode of proceeding. Of such a person Ephraem says (Homily XY.. torn, vi., p. 30) : — " He who subtilly investigates Is a member smitten as with a plague.'" The substantive |^_OQ_L, disceptatio, pervestigatio, is of very frequent occurrence. IV. ]v*~\ from jvo petiit, rogavit, qwe- sivit. U A captious questioner" would perhaps be the correct ren- dering of the -word. Ephraem, in the homily just quoted, says of this class of persons, — •• Whoever is a captious questioner, Is a companion of the lost.'' There are other terms employed to designate the Scrutatores, but these are the principal. It might appear at first sight, as though Ephraem were an enemy to that enquiry which both reli- gion and reason approve and command for the establishment of personal convictions ; in other words, as though he inculcated a blind deference to authority. But a very slight acquaintance, with his works will shew that nothing of the kind can be charged against him. He merely fights the battle which has been waged in all ages against those who mistake the province of human reason, and refuse to receive anything as true, the modus of which they cannot explain. The Scrutatores, therefore, were all persona EPHRAEM SYRUS. 133 whose heretical opinions originated in this morbid attempt to de- velop what is essentially mysterious. i " Presumptuously investigates." — The adverb here, answer- ing to | vrf \ illustrates what was said in the above note. c " The threshold of death." — Sy., the step. d " As to hold and measure." — To handle, and endeavour to ascertain by measuring in a vessel. e " The ocean of wisdom." — The word rendered wisdom is the emphatic plural of knowledge, of which wisdom is a high degree. / " Let it not whisper to thee." — ] ^ \ here translated whisper, has, in the Lexicons, this principal meaning, locutus est barbare, like the Heb. JS§, which only occurs in Psalm cxiv. 1. Michaelis in his note in Castell, s. v., conjectures that it may have the mean- ing cecinit, insusurravit tanquam in aurem, and this supposition is rendered certain by the text. 9 " For that is entire ruin." — Perhaps rather too strong a term for (JfXDQosj m\no Benedict has, " damnum id omne est" h " Have become discordant." — . » \«^\«^ 7 |^ which areihrown into confusion. i " Call back." — Sy., collect together ; i. e., bring the wild capri- cious notes into harmony. k " Oh happy lyre !" — The Syriac has only |jJ-D 0|, oh lyre! but it is evidently an exclamation of praise or congratulation. Benedict : — " Ofelix es /" l " Make thy notes distinct." — *^d\^D is properly to cleanse, make bright, polish; to brighten up the wires of a harp would have the effect of giving each one its due prominence. Hence, figuratively, to make the notes distinct. »» " What is not mysterious." — | A > m*~i ]j ; things not hidden. n " Who have sincerely believed."— Who have believed Zuf i °\ • without admixture ; the faith unmixed with speculation of simple, earnest minds. Benedict translates : — " Cave ne gladium, idest disceptandi studiwm, inducas in conventus simplicis plebis, assueto? fidem, quam didicit, candide projiteri." o " As David did." — The allusion is to Matt. xxii. 42. But it 134 METRICAL HOMILIES OF appears to be a quotation carelessly made, as David nowhere calls Him Son, though, in Psalm ex., he addresses Him as Lord. V " By saying." — This rendering is given to the particle ^"> \ which in Syriac so tersely introduces a quotation. It occurs again in the first verse of the fourteenth strophe. q " Not truly the Father." — This is given as an euphemism for |?Q.— Xj, the begetter. r "It is said." — See Matt, xxviii. 19. The quotation is in the exact words of the Peschito. s " For the passage to and fro" — i. e., probably, — let not the tongue be a pretended medium of communication from that abyss of silence, -where deep mysteries are shrouded from human gaze. (See Homily IV., strophe G.) 1 " Thy mind's productions." — Sy., thy thoughts or imaginations. « " Make thy praise ripe." — ;*">*"> No instance of this tran- sitive sense of this verb is given in the Lexicons. In torn, v., p. 488, speaking of Marcion, Ephraem calls him ;T"">? pjjj, a weed which came quickly to perfection. Perhaps the verb should be taken in the same sense as the Hcb., "03, which, in Ezek % xlvii. 12, is rendered by BchmdleT, jprimos fructos tulit ant prcebuit. The translation would then be, " Offer the first-fruits of thy praise." * " Of the clusters of grapes." — A beautiful paronomasia, since I^OlOliO signifies botli psalms and clusters of grapes. This latter signification is given by Schindler to a closely allied word from the same root, and seems to be authorized by this pas- EPHRAEM SYRUS. 135 IV. (Do tjjt ftfyofm} nf tjir £rratty DECLARED IN THE SCRIPTURES, IMPUGNED BY THE SCRUTATORS. (Adveesus Scrutatore^. LXVII.. torn. vi.. p. 129.) The standard-' of the Truth, Is set up in the Scriptures; But the blinded^ have forsaken it, AVho haYe begun to shoot their arrows, At the Lord of angels. Now this is the standard : — That the Father is One, Xot capable of division ; And that the Son is One, Who cannot be comprehended/ The standard is revealed, Exhibited in the light ; But he who lacketh understanding, Shooteth his darts by night, In the midst of the darkness. Let there be stillness Among the orators ; Let there be silence Among the investigators, Respecting hidden mysteries ! 136 METRICAL HOMILIES OF Let the mouth learn In what manner it should speak ; And then let it discourse, That it may not repent After it hath spoken. First, let it receive instruction, And then teach others ; Lest it should become A kind of passage boat fZ For things which are unprofitable. The Scriptures are exhibited to us As though they were a mirror ; That he whose eye is single 6 May perceive in them The image of the Truth. There is displayed The likeness of the Father ; There also is portrayed The image of the Son, And of the Holy Ghost. There are appointed The names of these Three, One after the other, In the confession of Faith At the rite of baptism/ EPHRAEM SYRUS. 137 But an occasion hath arisen, To throw this into confusion ; " For it is proper," they say, " That we should scrutinize these Names, In order that we may comprehend^ them." Captious enquiry hath now begun : Disputation hath entered : War is commenced : And the truth hath fled away \ h It is therefore preferable, That without research, We should possess the Truth ; Than that by such research We should want it altogether.' Again, it is better That in simplicity We should inherit life ; Than that by much knowledge* We should inherit death. It is also preferable In the time of thirst, To drink of the waters ; Than, instead of drinking, To measure the fountain. 138 METRICAL HOMILIES OF It is far better, For a young child, To recognize his father, By actual vision ; Than by investigation. l It is likewise better, By the constant" 1 guidance Of a true faith, To learn the Truth, Without curious enquiry. Then let the favoured congregation" Take pleasure in these things : — Lay aside contention, Be clothed with charity, And preach the Truth. God in old time opened The treasure of His loving-kindness ; And fashioned Adam, Who then had no existence, From the dust of the ground. He next quickly unbarred The gate of Hades ; And caused to arise from it The body of Adam, Which was but ashes. EPHRAEM SYRUS, 139 He then hasted to open The door of Paradise, By means of His promises ; And caused him to dwell By the tree of life. Glory be to Him Who devised p this key; Which, although it is but one, Conld yet unlock All these treasure-houses. Glory be to the Father, Who is concealed in His own being ; — Glory be to the Son, Who is concealed in His generation ; — By the seal of silence. 2 Give thanks to the Father, Who cannot be circumscribed ; Give thanks to the Son, Who is unsearchable ; With the Holy Ghost ! Increase in me, oh Lord ! Both silence and the gift of speech ; That by them I may be saved ; While I put away enquiry respecting Thee, And utter Thy praise ! 140 METRICAL HOMILIES OF This piece partakes more of the character of a hymn than a homily. It is evidently lyrical, and, hut for its length, would have been placed among the hymns. It is distinguished by great con- ciseness, rapidity of thought, and a neglect of those connecting particles which give coherence and intelligibility to written com- positions. This may be owing to the measure, which is tetra- syllable, in strophes of five verses. a " The Standard of the Truth." — This f ^ » ^ as used here, does not appear to signify so much divine truth generally, as that portion of it concerning God, which is comprehended in the term, the Trinity. It is variously employed by Ephraem, to express important doctrines which formed a rallying-point for the ortho- dox, and a mark for the arrows of the heretics. In Homily XXXIII., Adversus Scrutatores, (torn, vi., p. 59,) the Son is said to be the [i i 1 the mark : — " And even as colours Cannot represent sound, So men's imaginations Cannot comprehend the Son, Who is a mark for the arrows Of crafty minds." b " But the blinded." — ] V^An Destitution of vision is not conveyed by this word, and on that account it has been rendered blinded, i.e., having the eyes closed or useless fx*om some accidental cause. The word is alluded to by Castell only as a noun with the meaning lema, sordes in oculo, albugo. Hahn, on the authority of this passage in Ephraem, gives the explanation, albugine oculomm laborans, ccecus. Morris, blear-eyed. c "Cannot be comprehended." — Sy., ^CLOCLL jjj invest igabilis. d " A kind of passage boat." — See note s on Homily III. e " He whose eye is single." — See Matt. vi. 22. Although the word here is not | (\ » * 2) as in the Peschito, but f » ^ », it expresses equally well the Greek a7r\o£s. / " At the rite of Baptism." — Literally, at Baptism. Benedict has, ad Ba/ptismwm u&wrpa/mu8. 9 "Comprehend them." — JJLQJ5, that we may iwsscss them, appropriate them, make them our mental acquisitions. EPHRAEM SYRUS. 141 * " The truth hath fled away." — A verse is wanting here, al- though the sense is complete without it. Hahn suggests that the fourth verse may have been repeated. This is not improbable, as the next strophe introduces a new part of the subject. All these apparent irregularities must be collated, before their object can be ascertained, if they have any. t " We should want it altogether." — Benedict well expresses the meaning of this strophe, " Atqui non istuc profecto rerum nostra- rum ratio postulabat, quibus multo magis expediebat, quantulam- cumque veritatis particulam tenere, simpliciter credendo, qudm dis- ceptando, eandem ex toto destitui." & "Much knowledge." — Sy., knoicledges, a plural emphatic. Hahn, sapientice fastu. I "Than by investigation." — |Z^£iC), by a narrow scrutiny, such as a child would give the features of a person he was told to consider his parent, but whom he did not remember. Actual vision, in the former verse may mean at a glance. m " The constant guidance." — Sy., |j_O0>, the guidings or lead- ings. An emphatic plural. Hengstenberg is praised by a writer in the Journal of Sacred Literature, (No. vi., New Series, p. 437,) for having in his work on the Psalms, elucidated the uses of the emphatic plural in Hebrew. Its use in Syriac is much more fre- quent and expressive than the existing grammars intimate. » " The favoured congregation." — Sy., blessed. The whole body of the clergy seems here to be addressed. Or may not the terms of the strophe apply to all Christians ? o " God in old time opened." — Another subject is here intro- duced, separable, yet connected with what has preceded. The whole piece is thus divided into three parts. p " Who devised this key." — * \ a k», rendered, devised, is a word appropriated to the casting of metals. It also signifies to devise, to cogitate. The idea conveyed in the text is that of great skill in the production of a master-key, which should unlock so many receptacles. q " By the seal of silence." — In the translation this verse is made to bear both on the Father and the Son, although at first sight it would seem to be confined to the latter. 142 METRICAL HOMILIES OF V. Cjjflt Mtitu w tint (Eternal- AGAINST MARCION, BARDESANES, AND MANES. (Adversus H.ereses, XIV., torn, v., p. 467.) When things of an unyielding nature Are to be wrought upon, Tools of hard temperament Are brought to the work. By the means of hardened iron, And a fierce flame, And a strong blast of wind, And by wisdom and power, They are subdued, and brought Into the furnace to be fashioned, That they may become useful. Rebellious natures which proceed not Into the path of duty by gentleness ; By the bridle and the yoke Have their stubbornness subdued/' So that it yields to the trainer. If they revolt, they are tortured ; But if they obey, it is for their happiness ; If they harden themselves, The rod urges them on ; But if they are tractable, Love is their leader. EPHRAEM SYRUS. 143 Thus the yoke is to make them submissive ; The rod is for their stubbornness ; Pain is to correct their obduracy ; Strength is to reduce them to order ; Counsel is intended to persuade them ; Wisdom to be their leader ; Love brings them to the society of others ; Success 5 is for their probation ; Peace for their concord ; Wealth gives occasion for victory f And reputation for prudent counsel/ Again, there are rebellious natures Which are similar to Pharaoh. When he suffered punishment, He turned and became penitent ; But when he was lifted up* again, He forgot the past and was obstinate : He was a type of the unstable, Who, being exalted to honour, Delight to inflict injur}-. These, abusing kind treatment, Must be restrained by wrath/ If thou shouldst demean thyself humbly, They will think you despicable ; If thou actest boldly, They will consider you as without understanding j Be of an easy temperament/ They will swallow up and drown you \ h 144 METRICAL HOMILIES OF If thou art of strict manners. They will avoid and curse you ; But if thou art sociable, They will think you guileful, Double-faced, and insidious.* If they are sick they require your aid ; And if they are slighted they condemn you ; If they are visited they act ungratefully ; If they become convalescent they forsake you ; If they get abroad they injure you j Ask for your due and they will curse you ; Forgive them and they will trample on you : So that neither favour shewn, Nor the exercise of strict justice, Are ever pleasing to those Who seek occasion to be more wicked. * Now consider that all of these Are the children of one error ; Who from among the Greeks Have received a hateful name, That of the profane HyleV For of this there is no account By Moses in the Law : The Prophets described it not, Nor have the Apostles written of it ; But all the children of the truth Have proclaimed but one essence." 1 EPHRAEM SYRUS. 145 Behold how the children of deceit Have combined together, Who have represented Hyle as eternal ! Marcion hath written of it That it is opposed to the Creator. Bardesanes also wrote of it In his history of the Maker" of the world. The Babylonian Manes, having no understanding, Described it as about to be fettered. But it was the part of Moses to write the holy mystery. Neither did the Just One hesitate To relate, by the mouth of His preachers/' The truth to those who would listen to it.? The elect Moses was silent on this subject, That he might shame these reprobates, Who call aloud on the name of Hyle, In the same manner as the crucifiers United to shout together The name of Barabbas ; For they saw he was a great robber, And would make him their chief, That they might be able by that strong one To slay that mighty Hero Who had subjected His power to them.' Marcion collected together his wolves, And his ally collected his foxes, And Manes his herds of swine ; H 146 METRICAL HOMILIES OF That they might war against Him Who, by the hand of David, Had stopped the roaring of the lion and the bear, And bound together the foxes By the hand of Samson. A type this of their brethren/ "Whom, by their own declarations, The truth casts into chains ! And their error is as a cornet To those who wander from the way. By their trumpets the circumcised ones' Are all aroused and proclaim Disputation and strife. The bramble calls to the thorns, And the thorn to the tares, And the rush calls to the chaff : They excite themselves as with strong drink,' And come together to contend With the fire of the Almighty. And now conspire together Vipers which have no pity, And the asp without ears, And the serpent destitute of feet ; And presumptuously attempt to bite The stone which broke in pieces The image which the king dreamed r of, In the midst of Babylon ; Whose head was that of a dragon, EPHRAEM SYRUS. 1 i? Its feet those of a basilisk, And its belly that of a serpent. There are gathered and joined together Earth-worms and locusts, And the destroying moth, That they may trample into dust The heel of the mighty Hero ; Even the heel of Him who is of the stock Of the kings of the house of David, Which once descended into the sea, And walked upon it, And brake in pieces Leviathan/ And ascended triumphantly. The vulture expands his wings, And rising up joineth himself To the crows — the children of darkness ; The eagle calls to the kite, And the ravens respond to him ; That they may fight against The great Eagle of heaven ; The thundering sound of whose wings Put Satan to flight : And He opened the door of Paradise And admitted the penitent robber. The title of this homily is that given to it hy Asseman in his catalogue of the works of Ephraem. (Bibliotheca Orientalis, torn, i., p. 127.) The metre is pentasyllahic, in strophes of eleven verses. H2 148 METRICAL HOMILIES OF The translator has laboured diligently to give a correct trans- lation of this singular and interesting production ; but he hopes his readers may be more successful than himself in catching up. and retaining, the uniting thread of thought which doubtless runs through it, and which would give a unity and coherence to the whole. The question to be decided is, whether the whole homily is intended to refute the Gnostics ? or whether the introduction of those heretics in the seventh strophe is merely illustrative of what had been said of the rebellious and wicked before ? Perhaps the striking descriptions of the power of mind over matter, in the first strophe, and of superior natures over inferior ones in the strophes which follow, are intended to refute, in some way, the idea of the stubbornness of matter which so characterized the Gnostic system. It is felt that these and many other questions would be set at rest by a diligent study of the whole series of homilies against heresies, of which this is one. See the remarks on this portion of Ephraem's writings in the Introduction. a " Have their stubbornness subdued." — Sy., are convinced or persuaded of their ]Zo\ftuL ; a word which does not occur in the Lexicons, though its cognates are of frequent occurrence. • ^ ft ^ is, difficilis, hebes, impeditus, insipiens. b " Success is for their probation." — j^OlJ, rendered success, is a word worthy of the attention of lexicographers. Benedict renders it profectus. (J_^OT$ is, manu promptus, celer in negotiis, an d [ ^ rnAo facilitates, bona, opes. Therefore, although the meaning given here to |-^CJl5 is not recorded, it cannot be doubtful. c "Wealth gives occasion for victory:" — i. e., for the restraint and conquest of those evils to which it leads. d " And reputation for prudent counsel." — The Syriac for repu- tation here is ]»kk^DQ_» 3 glory, renown; but when applied to common life, reputation among others. This gives occasion for prudent watchfulness against detractors, &c. € " When lie was lifted up again." — 0"L£U is not found in this EPHRAEM SYRUS. 149 sense in Castell, or any other Lexicon. The meaning however t" may be gathered from the Arabic Lj editus, elatus fuit. f " Must be restrained by wrath." — Having noticed various characters, who by correction and discipline are improved, Ephraem proceeds to describe those who, like Pharaoh, are only hardened by them. The thought cannot here fail to be suggested, that in the days of Ephraem the evil tempers with which he came in contact, were precisely those which Christ's servants too often now meet with in their public life. 9 " An easy temperament/' — S^o » m«^ bland, gentle, good- natured. h " They will swallow up and drown you." — Literally, they icill sicalloic thee up, and thou shalt be covered up, or buried. i " Double-faced and insidious." — \&\\ »-> is properly incon- stans, variabilis. ^DQJLk* is made to yield the meaning of in- sidious with difficulty, as far as the Lexicons are concerned. The rendering generally given is, suffocator : Anglice, hangman; but although the idea of ropes, nets, snares, seems to peep out occa- sionally in Castell, the milder interpretation is not supported. The Arabic is equally untractable, and only renders aid in an obscure passage in Schindler. He says, that in Mark vi. 19, the Arabic for the Greek ive?xev has ;JL>- insidiabatur. k "Who seek occasion to be more wicked. — Benedict, " Qui ubique et undique arripiunt, unde pejores fiant.^ 1 " That of the profane Hyle." — This verse lands us at once into the midst of the great controversy with the Gnostics, which agitated the early Church. For the bearing of the works of Ephraem on this fruitful source of error and of religious conten- tion, the reader is referred to the Introduction. Only so much will here be said on the subject as is necessary to illustrate the text. It has been well said by Gieseler, that the basis of the Gnostic speculation was the old question 7ro9ev to icaicov, or the origin of evil. Amidst various shades of difference, the Gnostic Christians referred evil to a source independent both of God and man, and this was generally the Hyle, mentioned with such ah- 150 METRICAL HOMILIES OF horrence by Ephraem in this passage. It is the Greek "YA?/, originally a simple noun signifying materia quazcunque, wide ali- quid fit; but by the perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, it was exalted to a position of influence little inferior to that of the great and only God. Even Bardesanes, whose heresy assumed a far milder form than that of Marcion or Manes, entertained this idea of the Hyle, " JDissidet a Deo invisibili longo intervallo materia ceterna, massa fcetida et deformis, iners et tenebricosa, unde mala omnia scaturiunt, ipsius diaboli mater et sedes." — (See Bardesanes Gnosticus, Hahn, p. 59.) The word rendered profane, is also obscene; in this place it appears to be opposed to sacred ; no sacred writer had mentioned it. »t "One essence." — |-»A_»| ,-kj. Benedict, "unam quippe essentiam sempiternam omnes filii veritatis prcediearunt." This is properly the adjective aternus, the substantive being \LOLL* ] ; but it is often used as a noun, ens, to ov. » " In his history of the Maker of the world." — Only small frag- ments survive of the works of Bardesanes in the writings of others. From Ephraem a pretty full account of his sentiments may be collected. o " About to be fettered."— Ij-a-CD*) ZoOI). Benedict, " w* carcerem compegit. 1 ' Of course it is not alleged as a fault in Manes, that in his creed he declared that the principle of evil should one day be overcome by that of light : — the object of Ephraem is to shew the inconsistency of these philosophizing heretics in relation to each other. P " By the mouth of His preachers." — It is taken for granted that the reference here is to our Lord. The uniform testimony of the Apostles is against the principles of Gnosticism. q " To those who would listen to it." — The Marcionites, Mani- chseans, and others, to support their own views, received or rejected portions of the New Testament. To this eclecticism there may be a reference in the text. This strophe is redundant in verses from no perceptible cause. r •' Who had subjected His power to them." — The manifest and uniform manner in which the Gnostic doctrines derogated from the EPHRAEM SYRUS. 151 dignity of the Redeemer, will account for the strong expressions which occur in the remaining part of the homily. * " A type this of their brethren." — As the foxes were tied by their tails, — a conspicuous member of the body being the instru- ment of degradation and torture : — so the doctrines of the heretics were made to redound to their own refutation and disgrace. * " By their trumpets the circumcised ones :" — {. e., the Jews, who gained a vantage ground against Christianity, by means of the divisions caused by the heterodox. " " They excite themselves as with strong drink. " — Sy., ^orn m c*> i Oj_k>J2D. As ^»J2D has only the meaning of to go round about to beg, in the Lexicons, which will not agree with this passage, a rendering is given suggested by the Arabic j^ ebriusfuit. Let the learned decide. * "The image which the king dreamed of." — See Dan. ii. 31. «^D5, here rendered dreamed of, has the meaning excogitavit given it in Pael, by Bernstein, and the historical relation seems to warrant the variation of the idea given in the text. y " And brake in pieces Leviathan." — The figures of this strophe seem to be taken from Gen. iii. 15: and Ps. lxxiv. 13. 152 METRICAL HOMILIES OF VI. € rrnr rnmrtttfrrta €mtjj. (Adversus H^ereses, XXVII., torn, v., p. 500.) How much the heretics' 1 resemble Those who steal the signet of a king, And impress false coin 5 with it secretly, This, falling into the hands of the skilful, They see there the seal and the royal image, But detect also the counterfeit, and the fraud of the artist. Thus the thief is not able, To imitate the signet entirely. So false teachers/ who counterfeit the way, Cannot imitate the waymarks 6 of the kingdom. And while the waymarks are standing, The road itself is not unknown ; So that whoever is sound of memory, When he looks on the waymarks, can understand Both whose they are and whence and whither they lead. Thus he who moves the waymarks to a by-road/ Deserves a twofold reprehension ; For he injures the road and steals the waymarks. — Blessed, oh Lord, is the power of Thy truth, For no one is able to eclipse its beams \s Come, let us further consider this way EPHRAEM SYRUS. 153 Which the heretics tread in a by-course, Having stolen and arranged in order The waymarks of our true King. Behold ! the names of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, The standard of the chrism also and of baptism, The breaking of bread and the cup of salvation, The stolen Scriptures also which they have corrupted/' Blessed be the King of kings, Whose way is like mountains which cannot be con- cealed ! Come ! contemplate these imbecile men, Who with their broken fragments of truth' Would bury these high mountains, Which cannot be stolen nor concealed ! And perceiving the waymarks cannot be covered, They call them by the name of another king who has no existence/ Some men indeed err and believe them, But others reject and reprove them. — Blessed is He who hath fixed waymarks on earth, As He hath fixed the starry lights on high ! And as no man is able To conceal the rays of the dawn/ So no one hath power To hide the truth of the Scriptures. Some stumble in the many lights of heaven, And some err in the abundance of the Scriptures ; h 3 154? METRICAL HOMILIES OF In the lights above they find stumbling-blocks, And in the pure Scriptures blemishes. Blessed is He who hath illumined us with light, And saved us by truth which cannot be refuted/' This homily is said by Asseman to be addressed to all heretics. In reference to the structure it is peculiar. Each strophe has ten verses, but they are of various metres, and it has been found im- possible to establish such a harmony among them as to express their relations in the translation. Further light may probably be thrown on the subject. « " The heretics." — p n c^o ^ literally, the deniers or unbelievers. Ephraem means all those whose creed consisted in part of a denial or rejection of some orthodox article. & " False coin." — \£*\\ is properly fraus, fallacia, dolus. Bene- dict renders, " nummos cudunt adulter inos." c " To imitate." — 1^3 does not occur in any such sense in any Lexicon the translator has consulted. The context however de- mands such a version, and Benedict has " imitari." In Arabic there is a word which may assist to throw light upon this : — ( in conj. ii. is, repetivit rem; to repeat a thing=make a duplicate, imitate. d " False teachers." — The general sense of [i <^\n . i s doc- trina. But the meaning here given is established in Ephraem. Thus in the Twenty-fifth Homily, Adversus Haireses (torn, v., p. 49G), in strophe 8, we read of |_k>5o] n^no \ t ] i o>\n . teachers or guides rvho pervert the way. It appears to be appro- printed to false teachers. « " The waymarks." — j I \ ^n is properly m8et t ;ts in Matt. v. 11. So iiiillariiuii in Latin. In this sense of mztettone, waymark, it is not found in the Lexicons. /"To a by-road." — \rnOL, abcrratio, error, Castcll. In this EPHRAEM SYRUS. 155 sense Ephraem uses it elsewhere. Benedict, " ad obliquosflexus." It occurs again in the second verse of the next strophe. 9 " To eclipse its beams." — All the strophes end with a doxology similar to this except the first ; but it cannot he doubted that even in that the two last verses were taken up by the chorus. h " The stolen Scriptures also which they have corrupted." — The Scriptures are said to be stolen, because they were taken as it were from the orthodox by the heretics, to subserve their own private purposes ; the way in which the Gnostics rejected some Scriptures and mutilated others according to their convenience, has been alluded to in the notes to the former homily. When criticism becomes a pruning-knife to lop the branches of the tree of life according to the taste of him who handles the weapon, it is a sure proof that self-will and not a desire for truth is the moving principle. » " AYho with their broken fragments of truth." — Literally, who with the stones of truth which have been broken into fragments. The heretics retaining the ordinances of Christianity, and using a Christian nomenclature, endeavoured by the guileful employment of them to injure Christian truth. k " Another king who has no existence." — As for instance the Hyle, mentioned in the last homily ; or the other imagined beings which distinguished the systems of the Gnostics and the Mani- chaeans. 1 " To conceal the rays of the dawn." — Literally, to cover the rising of the beams. m "Truth which cannot be refuted." — |Aj»Q_O0 p; <* ^ According to the etymology this would be, " with that which is sure, certain, and that which is true, morally." But both words are used indiscriminately for truth, and, in the translation, the latter word has been used as qualifying the first by a common Semitic idiom. 156 METRICAL HOMILIES OF VII. €§t Mpiui] nf tjje €rrn% ITS ANALOGIES IN NATURE, AND THEIR INEXPLICABLENESS. (Adversus Scsutatores, XLII., torn, vi., p. 75.) Who is able to circumscribe Within a narrow aqueduct, Or to bring through his own intellect The rough sea a of hidden mysteries ? Disputation to us in our weakness Is like a bitter thing, Much more so an argument of great difficulty. Who is there of weak perceptions That is competent for the assault c Of that Mighty One, Whose generation is unsearchable ! The vision of that which is spiritual Is not congenial to our pupils ; Its appearance is strange to our eyes If we would gaze upon it. And who can become familiar With the hidden One by his research ? Who is distant in all respects from all men ! Who hath ever accustomed His mouth to the burning flame? Or his palate to fiery heat Which never hath been tasted ? EPHRAEM SYRUS. 157 Now be instructed by this fire, Whose fierceness was never tasted ; Yet its power is recognized In the flavour of what is dressed by it ; And thus it is a useful thing, And in every way profitable. So also is the hidden Eternal Essence \ d Mix and receive its influence In various kinds of good things ; For its investigation, in itself, Is difficult and arduous. * The sun passeth through a transparent^ vase Into the midst of the water in it, And generates in the cold element The warmth of fire ; A progeny like unto itself, In a wonderful manner it begets ; — The offspring rises from it without separation ! For the ray is not drowned, Neither is the water divided ; It is a pure progeny, Which beameth forth with splendour \ 9 Gold is a single substance, A flower is threefold ; Stone is a single substance, But fire is threefold ; For flame, and heat, and light Are mingled in it. 158 METRICAL HOMILIES OF For not by one example only ascendetli The language of created things ! — Therefore without disputation Receive as they have been preached to us, These threefold arrangements.^ For they are not disposed in this order According to our pleasure ; But Nature as it is Exists in a threefold manner. Nor is it to be enquired for what reason It is found to be thus ; — That it exists in this order is indisputable. For who complains of our statement, That fire is threefold ? No man questions it, But every one admits it.' It continues to be a mystery to thee How the heat passes through the vase ; How it was conceived in the sun, And lay hidden in it ; And, again, how it was enveloped In the bosom of its beams. Unsearchable is the travail that brought it forth ! That birth is a miracle, The admiration of which should keep thee silent ; And restrain thy imagination, Because it surpasses thy understanding !* EPHRAEM SYRUS. 159 If tliou hadst never tasted a fruit/ To discover its peculiar nature ; Though thou hadst touched it with thy hand, And smelt it, and examined it : — Yet because thou hadst not yet Tasted it, and proved its quality, Thou wouldst rely on him who had tried it. Since, then, that hidden Essence Is too mighty for thee, Believe that Fruit™ By which its force has been tasted. Take a grain of wheat, aud split it open, And search into it and shew to us AYhere it hides the stalk, The ear of corn, and the root ;* Each of which is complete within it In a threefold manner : Shew also which is recent, older, and oldest ; — And, although there was a beginning, How fruitless to search it out ! For their origin is concealed Within them and to themselves. p But since even this illustration' 2 May fail as not being perfect ; Let it be reaped and winnowed That it may come into use. Grant, then, that through captiousness The similitude has failed — 160 METRICAL HOMILIES OF Do thou with sound mind thus contemplate it : — The blade 7 " is typically the body, The full corn is typically the mind, And the ear is typically the soul ; — This is a celebrated parable ! 5 For consider that every similitude Which is written and constructed, If it fully depicted The whole object perfectly, Would be found not a resemblance, But an exact copy. For it is necessary that shadows should pass through The network of time/ Thus our Saviour compares A grain of corn" to the kingdom, For our improvement. Examples and parables Are weak and insufficient ; Comparisons and similitudes Are feeble and reach not to the object : They subsist in humble form, That he may be reproved Who is haughty and arrogant. For if he is not competent To attain to the similitudes, How can he madly perplex himself With the height of Divine Majesty ? EPHRAEM SYRUS. 161 The clouds are more exalted Than the vapours beneath them, The heavens than both of them, And the heaven of heavens is still higher. The low mountains* Of this creation are high To the dwellers in the dust beneath them. Thus also similitudes, However great they may be to us, Are only thought to approach the thing signified, Being, in reality, far away from it. The metre of the above is pentasyllabic, except the seventh verse which is heptasyllabic. Each strophe has uniformly eleven verses. Asseman thus describes the contents of the homily: " The holy doctor in this piece concludes that the divine nature is inaccessible and impenetrable on account of the weakness of the human mind, which is ignorant of the nature of things which are brought under its observation." — (Bibliotheca Orientalis, torn, i., p. 109.) It con- veys a favourable idea of the skill of Ephraem in reasoning, and also of the richness of his imagination. These qualities are dis- cerned by the readers of a translation. But it requires that the production should be studied in its native language, before the various mental qualities it exhibits can be fully appreciated. a " The rough sea." — Sy., ]J2^L., the leaves. b " An argument of great difficulty." — Sy., when the scope or mark is of celebrated strength; i. e., when the divine nature is the subject of discussion. The translation of Mr. Moms is very dif- ferent, and scarcely conveys an intelligible sentiment : "As searching is to us in our weakness, as it were bitter, how much more then is the standard of glorious might bitter?" The meaning of Ephraem is this, — Disputation is even in ordinary cases and on 162 METRICAL HOMILIES OF common subjects unpleasant to a -weak mind ; how much more uncongenial is the discussion of an argument concerning the mysterious nature of God ! c " That is competent for the assault." — |lQ-!> is impetus, vis; power in action, ready to grapple with an opponent. <* " So also is the hidden eternal essence." — To know God by His favours and by the beneficent results of His inscrutible power in creation and providence, rather than by curious investigation of His nature, is appropriate to man ; since he is constantly obliged in the common course of life to be contented with effects, while ignorant of the cause. « " Is difficult and arduous." — Sy., difficult is its investigation and arduous, by a metathesis of the adjectives which occurs sometimes in Ephraem's metrical productions ; no doubt for the sake of the metre. See note n. / " A transparent vase." — jA^ > §jb is the rendering of the Greek akafiaa-rpov in the New Testament, and signifies a vase or other vessel, made of a pellucid transparent material. Benedict translates, " -Sol positam in speculari vase aquam verberans." In a note, Mr. Morris seem to think a burning glass, or a material capable of acting as such may be intended. But the way in which the sun's rays will warm the water in any transparent vessel, is the only allusion which the argument requires. g " Which beameth forth with splendour." — There appears to be an unjustifiable effort made here, on the part of Benedict, to enlist Ephraem on the side of the notion of impurity of ordinary parturition, which is correlative to the idea of the holiness of celibacy. He renders this and the former verse, " Partus purus est et sine lobe editus," which is an exaggeration of the terms of the text. Mr. Morris improves on the hint, and translates, " The offspring is one of chastity, and glisteneth forth in spotless?iess. n Now the word rendered spotlessness is |Z.Q_iO"l1, illustratio, splendor, from \